BlockBefore

Shirley, Illinois

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Dale Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61772. The Survey maps it on the Bloomington West quadrangle. 135 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 764 feet above sea level.

Shirley within McLean County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 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.

In the county-history sources

6,240 words on this township

The Good Old Times in McLean County, Illinois : Containing Two Hundred and Sixty-one Sketches of Old Settlers, a Complete Historical Sketch of the Black Hawk War and Descriptions of All Matters of Interest Relating to McLean County, published 1874 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Dale Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Dale Township - 6,240 words.

Fires near this place

2 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Shirley in 2013, burning about 2 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
3 April 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesTALASKI
18 February 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesHOUGHAM

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in McLean County

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 Shirley: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Probasco PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in McLean County

Storms near this place

20 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Shirley in 20 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 lightning. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2008Thunderstorm WindShirley$35,000Houses were damaged in Covell.
June 2009LightningShirley$30,000Lightning struck a home between Bloomington and Shirley during the early morning hours of June 18th. The lightning ignited a fire in the top floor of the house. There were no injuries.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindShirley$25,000Shingle damage occurred to 4 homes. Two fence sections were toppled and a stop sign was blown down.
May 2023Flash FloodShirley$1,000The Stringtown Road underpass below the railroad was flooded.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindShirley-A large tree branch was broken at the corner of Fedor Circle and Six Points Road.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindShirley-A large tree branch was broken off along Fox Creek Road.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindShirley-Several large tree limbs were blown down.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindShirley-Numerous small tree limbs were blown down and shingles were damaged on a few homes.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindShirley-Numerous tree branches were blown down.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindShirley-Three large tree branches were blown down.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindShirley-Numerous tree limbs were blown down.
June 2015Flash FloodShirley-Thunderstorms produced very heavy rain of 4.00 to 5.00 in one hour in southwest McLean County. Extensive street and basement flooding was reported in Heyworth, for the second time in one week, where 5.00 of rain was reported. Rural roads were also flooded from Shirley to McLean to Heyworth.
May 2025HailShirley-no account filed
May 2025HailShirley-no account filed
May 2025HailShirley-no account filed
May 2025HailShirley-no account filed
June 2013HailShirley-no account filed
February 2011HailShirley-no account filed
June 2006HailShirley-no account filed
April 2003HailShirley-no account filed

Every storm recorded in McLean 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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Covell3.5 miles13
Funks Grove4.1 miles13
Burns4.5 miles14
Hendrix4.6 miles14
Randolph4.9 miles14
Bloomington Heights5.3 miles13
Twin Grove6.0 miles13
Bloomington6.4 miles14

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 ShirleyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7498663The 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 418437. 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.