Sparta, Illinois
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Sparta precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 62286. The Survey maps it on the Steeleville quadrangle. 4,095 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 482 feet above sea level.
On record in Sparta
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
Sparta Historic Districtlisted 1982
Population over time
2 figuresSparta fell from 4,302 to 4,095 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 | 4,302 | |
| 2020 | 4,095 | -207 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 12 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.
- 1914 USGS Coulterville quadrangle1:62500
- 1917 USGS Coulterville quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Belleville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1962 USGS Belleville quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Steeleville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Pinckneyville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Sparta: 1 past producer. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randolph County Highway Department | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
48 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sparta in 48 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 27 hail, 19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | $50,000 | County officials reported a garage blown down along Highway 154 in Baldwin. A mobile home was heavily damaged in Sparta and several mobile home roofs were damaged in Coulterville. The county sheriff also reported trees and power lines down through out the county. |
| February 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | $5,000 | A radio station reported downed power lines with wind gusts to 60 mph. |
| March 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | $500 | The county sheriff reported numerous trees down between Sparta and Tilden along Highway 4. |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | Thunderstorm winds downed a tree limb which damaged a mobile home. They also broke 2 power poles near the intersection of Route 154 and Plum Creek Road. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees around town. One tree fell onto a house causing moderate damage. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down two trees on north side of town. One of the trees fell onto a house causing moderate roof damage and the other one fell onto power lines. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs. |
| May 2008 | Hail | Sparta | - | Storm spotters reported hail up to one inch fell on and off for about 30 minutes. |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | An early morning thunderstorm caused scattered wind damage in Sparta. Large tree limbs and a few power lines were down. At least 1000 people lost power for about 4 hours. |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | Storm spotters reported large tree limbs and power lines down. |
| November 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Sparta | - | A small tornado uprooted and snapped off large trees at the Sparta Country Club. |
| November 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts caused minor damage at a mobile home part on the south side of Sparta. A couple of trees were downed with one partially falling on a mobile home. |
| November 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Sparta | - | A small tornado caused damage in downtown Sparta. Half of the roof of a church was blown off, a chimney was damaged, roof shingles blown off a couple of buildings, and some windows broken. |
| November 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | Thunderstorm winds downed some trees, a sign, and damaged the roof of a motel along Highway 154. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Sparta | - | The public reported nickel size hail in Sparta. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Sparta | - | Fire Department personnel from Coulterville reported golfball size hail. |
| April 2002 | Hail | Sparta | - | Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail west of Sparta. |
| April 2002 | Hail | Sparta | - | Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Sparta | - | Storm spotters reported nickel size hail in Sparta. |
| May 1998 | Hail | Sparta | - | Spotters reported 3/4 inch hail south of Sparta. |
| March 2008 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| March 2006 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| March 2006 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| September 2003 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| February 1999 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| March 1997 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| April 1997 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sparta | - | no account filed |
| March 1996 | Hail | Sparta | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eden | 1.8 miles | 12 | |
| Schuline | 4.7 miles | 13 | |
| Houston | 4.9 miles | 12 | |
| Blair | 5.8 miles | 12 | |
| Tilden | 6.2 miles | 12 | |
| Coulterville | 6.7 miles | 12 | |
| Walsh | 8.2 miles | 13 | |
| Steeleville | 8.3 miles | 12 |
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 Sparta | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q575519 | 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 418880. 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.





