Sparland, Illinois
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Steuben Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61565. It stands on Thenius Creek. The Survey maps it on the Lacon quadrangle. 366 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 469 feet above sea level.
On record in Sparland
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Robert Waugh Houselisted 1978
Population over time
2 figuresSparland fell from 406 to 366 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 | 406 | |
| 2020 | 366 | -40 (-10%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 17 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.
- 1893 USGS Lacon quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1933 USGS Lacon quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1937 USGS Lacon quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Lacon quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Kewanee quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Sparland in 2012, burning about 10 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/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 March 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | WEIGARD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Sparland: 2 past producers, 1 prospect, 1 occurrence, 1 plant. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmington Shale Exposure | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Limestone Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Lacon Plant & Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant | ||
| M. Wilson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Weirs Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
30 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sparland in 30 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 15 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 5 flash flood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2013 | Flash Flood | Sparland | $10,000,000 | Torrential rainfall of 4.00 to 8.00 inches resulted in damage to about 2,000 houses and businesses in the county, including several in the cities of Henry and Lacon. Every creek and stream in the county was flooded. Every road in the county was impassable, and several water rescues were made. Numerous roads and culverts were damaged by the flash flooding. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | $75,000 | Ten to fifteen power poles were blown down at Yankee Lane and County Road 800 North just northwest of Sparland. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | $10,000 | The roof of a small pole barn was blown off about 2 miles west of Sparland. |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | $8,000 | Several tree limbs were blown down in Hopewell. |
| March 2026 | Tornado (EF0) | Sparland | - | Video evidence from an Illinois River barge operator showed a tornado touched down west of the Illinois River about 3 miles north of Sparland at 8:01 PM CDT. The tornado crossed the Illinois River and tracked eastward, damaging numerous trees north of Lake Wildwood before dissipating just east of IL-89 and south of Sandy Creek at 8:18 PM CDT. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | Five trees were blown down in Hopewell, one of which was blown onto a house. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | Report from mPING, trees uprooted or snapped. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | Several trees were blown down, including one that fell onto a house. |
| July 2021 | Flash Flood | Sparland | - | Illinois Route 17 was closed between Lacon and Sparland due to water flowing across the road. |
| July 2021 | Flash Flood | Sparland | - | A culvert was washed out on Illinois Route 29 near Sparland, which swept a vehicle off the road. No injuries were reported. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | An 8-inch diameter tree was blown down. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | A tree was blown down onto Route 29 just south of Sparland. |
| April 2013 | Flood | Sparland | - | Torrential rainfall of 4.00 to 8.00 inches resulted in damage to about 2,000 houses and businesses in the county, including several in the cities of Henry and Lacon. Every creek and stream in the county was flooded. Every road in the county was impassable, and several water rescues were made. Numerous roads and culverts were damaged by the flash flooding. The flash flooding was so significant that creeks stayed in flood and most roads remained closed until the afternoon of April 22nd. |
| September 2012 | Tornado (EF0) | Sparland | - | A tornado briefly touched down on the Illinois River about 1.6 miles south-southeast of Hopewell in Marshall County at 12:32 PM CDT. The tornado dissipated at 12:33 PM CDT. No damage was reported. |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | Numerous power poles blown down. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | A large tree was blown down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | Numerous tree limbs blown down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | Several sheds and grain bins were damaged. |
| June 2001 | Flash Flood | Sparland | - | Illinois Route 29, 4 miles north of Sparland, was closed when water was "radiator deep on a car". |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees, numerous tree limbs, and damaged a grain elevator. No injuries were reported and no damage estimate was available. |
| March 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous power lines and power poles in Sparland and Henry. No injuries were reported and no damage estimate was available. |
| August 2022 | Hail | Sparland | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Sparland | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Hail | Sparland | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Sparland | - | no account filed |
| March 2006 | Hail | Sparland | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Sparland | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparland | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Flash Flood | Sparland | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Sparland | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lacon | 1.5 miles | 17 | |
| Hopewell | 3.2 miles | 19 | |
| Henry | 7.2 miles | 17 | |
| Wilbern | 8.3 miles | 18 | |
| Saratoga Center | 10.0 miles | 11 | |
| Lawn Ridge | 10.8 miles | 21 | |
| Camp Grove | 10.9 miles | 12 | |
| La Rose | 11.2 miles | 11 |
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 Sparland | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2289138 | 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 418878. 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.






