Rock Grove, Illinois
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1939 and the latest in 1981. It stands in Rock Grove Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61070. The Survey maps it on the Dakota quadrangle. It stands 945 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 13 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1939 USGS Freeport quadrangle1:62500
- 1939 USGS Freeport quadrangle1:48000
- 1944 USGS Freeport quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1963 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Dakota quadrangle1:24000
- 1981 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
14,943 words on this townshipThe History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Rock Grove Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The farms, which are usually large, are under a high state of cultivation, and cultivators harvest generous returns for the care and labor bestowed to develop and enrich them. Corn, wheat, oats, rye, and the fruits peculiar to this section, are grown in abundance, while hogs, sheep and cattle are raised in large numbers. The schools and ch arches afford means of temporal and spiritual education, and its only village of " Rock Grove " is inferior to none in the county as a place of retreat from the cares of business, or residence where happiness and comfort must be prime factors in man's daily life.
Passage source: The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880.
As near as can be ascertained, no permanent settlement was made in the township earlier than 1835, though prospectors and transients came previous, but tarried only long enough to rest and recuperate, when they, as a rule, pushed on to more distant points.
Passage source: The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880.
About the summer of 1835, Albert Albertson, accompanied by Jonathan Corey, made their way into the county from the East, and, having pursued their journey as far as the Grove, pitched their tent and decided to remain. Each entered claims in Section 36, and made some improvements during the summer, which were used by Eli Frankeberger upon the latter's reaching their site. He came with his family from Champaign Co., Ohio, and settled in the present town of Rock Grove during December of the same year. Hardly had he located before his wife was confined of a daughter, who was christened "Louisa Frankeberger," and is remembered as the first birth in the township.
Passage source: The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Rock Grove Township - it names this place 49 more 49 times.
Fires near this place
1 since 2019Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Rock Grove in 2019, burning about 5 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 March 2019 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 19026 |
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 11 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Rock Grove: 10 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, General. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dornink Quarry | Limestone, General | Past Producer | ||
| D. Zettle Property | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Faulkner Rock Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Miles Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Rees Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Schlueter Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rock Grove in 8 storm reports between 2007 and 2026: 3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Hail | Rock Grove | - | Report received from Mping. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock Grove | - | Report of a shed blown down by thunderstorm winds. |
| April 2020 | Hail | Rock Grove | - | Emergency management relayed public reports of 1 to 3 inch diameter hail. |
| October 2018 | Flash Flood | Rock Grove | - | Numerous gravel roads were washed out in Stephenson County. Parts of Highway 20 were under water near Lena. |
| July 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Rock Grove | - | A trained spotter observed a brief tornado touchdown in the vicinity of Orangeville, IL moving northward toward Juda, WI at 403 pm CDT July 12. |
| July 2010 | Funnel Cloud | Rock Grove | - | A funnel cloud was observed about 2 miles north of Rock Grove, IL at 405 pm CDT July 12. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock Grove | - | Winds estimated to be 65 mph blew down some tree limbs in Rock Grove, IL. |
| May 2022 | Hail | Rock Grove | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afolkey | 3.9 miles | 13 | |
| Rock City | 4.1 miles | 15 | |
| Epplyanna | 4.4 miles | 15 | |
| Dakota | 5.2 miles | 13 | |
| Davis | 5.9 miles | 15 | |
| Orangeville | 7.0 miles | 13 | |
| Buckhorn Corners | 7.2 miles | 13 | |
| Winneshiek | 8.2 miles | 15 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Rock Grove | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14688061 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 416814. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.








