Ruma, Illinois
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Ruma precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 62278. The Survey maps it on the Red Bud quadrangle. 313 people lived here at the 2020 count.
Population over time
2 figuresRuma fell from 317 to 313 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 317 | |
| 2020 | 313 | -4 (-1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 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.
- 1912 USGS Baldwin quadrangle1:62500
- 1914 USGS Baldwin quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1942 USGS Baldwin quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS Belleville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1962 USGS Belleville quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Red Bud quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Pinckneyville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Ruma in 2009, burning under an acre 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | HOLDENEE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Ruma: 2 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limestone Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Limestone Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
21 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ruma in 21 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 10 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruma | $25,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees onto Illinois Route 155 in Ruma. Numerous tree limbs were blown down in Baldwin. In the Sparta and Eden areas, numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down. Several buildings in Sparta sustained minor damage from fallen trees and tree limbs. |
| March 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruma | $2,000 | no account filed |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruma | - | Thunderstorm winds downed power poles and live powerlines along Route 155 west of Ruma. Winds also snapped several large power poles on IL-3 south of Ruma. |
| March 2026 | Tornado (EF0) | Ruma | - | The tornado entered Randolph County where it damaged mostly trees along its northeastern path. On Ritchfield Road southeast of Red Bud, the tornado did damage the roofs of a few farm outbuildings. The most substantial damage happened on South Prairie Road north of Prairie where the tornado ripped off a substantial portion of a church's roof. It dissipated shortly after just north of Grigg. |
| March 2024 | Hail | Ruma | - | The discrete thunderstorm that produced up to 1.75 inch hail in Jefferson County, MO and Monroe County, IL continued to produce 1.75 inch hail in and around the town of Ruma, IL. Public reports say hail began small, nearly covering the ground before growing to golf ball sized. No damage was reported. |
| October 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Ruma | - | A tornado touched down near the far western extension of St. Patricks Road. In this location, a barn had one of it's walls blown out and part of the roof torn off. Several other buildings in the area sustained minor to moderate roof damage. Then the tornado tracked to the north northeast, crossing Illinois Route 155 west of Ruma, about a tenth of a mile west of intersection with Pioneer Lane. Just north of Illinois Route 155, two large trees were snapped off. One tree landed on a nearby house causing minor roof damage. The tornado then lifted and dissipated. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruma | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large tree limbs and power lines between Ruma and Ellis Grove. Also, the winds snapped a power pole. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruma | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large trees in St. Patrick's Cemetery and in town. Also, numerous large tree limbs and power lines were blown down around town. Several tombstones were damaged in the cemetery and a large shed was destroyed just south of Ruma. |
| August 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruma | - | The roof was blown off of a house under construction. |
| July 2004 | Hail | Ruma | - | Storm spotters reported nickel size hail in Ruma. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Ruma | - | The public reported nickel size hail. |
| April 2002 | Hail | Ruma | - | Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruma | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts caused damage at a couple of farms in the Ruma area. Several barns and outbuildings were damaged. A deck and part of the roof of a home were also damaged. |
| April 2009 | Hail | Ruma | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Ruma | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Ruma | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Ruma | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruma | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruma | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Ruma | - | no account filed |
| April 1998 | Hail | Ruma | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marigold | 3.8 miles | 19 | |
| Prairie | 3.9 miles | 13 | |
| Evansville | 4.4 miles | 12 | |
| Red Bud | 5.3 miles | 13 | |
| Modoc | 6.1 miles | 19 | |
| Grigg | 6.1 miles | 13 | |
| Prairie du Rocher | 6.3 miles | 19 | |
| Danley | 6.8 miles | 19 |
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 Ruma | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2273556 | 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 417037. 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.






