Sefton, Illinois

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1941 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Sefton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62418. The Survey maps it on the Avena quadrangle.

Sefton within Fayette County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 13 printed sheets

Matched 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.

1941 USGS St. Elmo quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1945 USGS St. Elmo quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1958 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1961 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1982 USGS Avena quadrangle1:24000
1986 USGS Effingham quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
1998 USGS Avena quadrangle1:24000

In the county-history sources

2,968 words on this township

History of Fayette County, Illinois, published 1878 names this settlement in its chapter on Sefton Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Eli Forbis and John Little, came to the township together in 1830, and settled on section 19,7-2 east, both building cabins and making improvements that year. John Johnson and Robert Green settled in the township in 1832, and Wm. Padon in 1833, the latter settling on section 24,7-1 east, where he still lives in the house built that year. Among the old settlers whose names deserve honorable mention, appear those of James Allen, John McAlilly, Patrick Holland, Wm. B. Forbis, Thomas Granfield, Wm. Dively, Henry Stahl, Michael Radcliff, Geo. Tinsher, Henry L. Davis, Mike McDonald, the Howard family, Isaac Workman, Amos Workman, John Sefton, Washington Ledbetter, James Brazzel,JToseph Stephenson, Joseph Reynolds, Moses Briscow, David Ernest, Chas. and Dan'l Sapp, James Owens, James Hayden, John Arnold, John and Campbell Carson, Robert McConnell, Chas. and Silas Smith, Henry Turner, Geo. Sage, John Sage, and John D. Lee. The settlers for the first few years were nearly all natives of Tennessee, who settled along the Bluff near the Kaskaskia bottom. Between 1835-40 a colony of families from Ohio settled about four hules farther east Some few of them are still left to enjoy the fruits of their early hardships and

Passage source: History of Fayette County, Illinois, published 1878.

To James E. Foster belongs the credit of introducing the first fine stock into the township. He probably has some as good cattle as can be found in the State, and has given some attention to sheep and hogs. John and Campbell Carson, Henry Sefton, John Sid well, and some others deserve praise for their efforts in the same direction.

Passage source: History of Fayette County, Illinois, published 1878.

The people of Fayette County in 1860, honored the name of Sefton by giving it to one of the best townships in the county. Henry Sefton was born in Decatur County, Indiana, May 28th, 1829, and was the only ch.il 1 of Hugh and Mary Sefton. Hugh was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, aud was of Irish parentage.

Passage source: History of Fayette County, Illinois, published 1878.

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 Sefton Township - it names this place 6 more 6 times.

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Sefton: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sulfur. 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
	St. Elmo Sulfur Plant	Sulfur	Producer

Every working recorded in Fayette County

Storms near this place

3 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sefton in 3 storm reports in 2011: 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. 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 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Sefton	-	Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous tree limbs.
April 2011	Hail	Sefton	-	no account filed
February 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Sefton	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Fayette County

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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Pruett	2.4 miles	13
Post Oak	2.8 miles	13
Avena	4.6 miles	13
Brownstown	5.2 miles	11
Magnolia Corner	5.7 miles	13
Twin Churches	5.8 miles	12
Wrights Corner	6.2 miles	12
Howards Point (historical)	6.2 miles	13

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.

Wikidata item Q122548545

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 423172. 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.

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.