Tallula, Illinois
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1909 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Tallula No. 11 precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 62688. The Survey maps it on the Tallula quadrangle. 434 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 621 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresTallula fell from 488 to 434 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 | 488 | |
| 2020 | 434 | -54 (-11%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 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.
- 1909 USGS Tallula quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1940 USGS Tallula quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1971 USGS Tallula quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
6 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Tallula between 2010 and 2017, burning about 7 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-000043 |
| 12 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | HURIE |
| 21 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2015-000059 |
| 19 February 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2017-000039 |
| 16 February 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2017-000035 |
| 12 November 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 10363 |
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 Tallula: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menard County Pit | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Petersburg City Pit | Stone | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
19 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tallula in 19 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 3 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tallula | $60,000 | Several tree branches and power lines were blown down. |
| June 2025 | Tornado (EF1) | Tallula | - | Sentinel satellite data indicated a tornado began 2.6 miles northwest of Berlin in Sangamon County. The tornado tracked northeast through Sangamon County, damaging trees and grain bins, eventually crossing County Road 7 into Menard County. It produced tree damage at a residence just north of County Road 7, as well as a residence along Rock Creek Avenue, after which point it dissipated. It produced EF-1 damage in both Sangamon and Menard counties. |
| June 2025 | Tornado (EFU) | Tallula | - | Video shared by a trained spotter showed a brief tornado began in eastern Cass County south of Newmansville. Sentinel satellite imagery showed the tornado tracking for approximately 1.8 miles through Cass County before crossing County Line Road north of Pschirrer Road and continuing into western Menard County. The tornado continued for 1.3 miles before dissipating north of Newmansville Avenue. No damage was reported in either county, so a damage intensity rating could not be assigned. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tallula | - | Power lines were blown down. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tallula | - | Numerous trees were blown down. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tallula | - | Eleven power poles were blown down in Tallula. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tallula | - | A few power lines were blown down in Tallula. |
| September 2010 | Flash Flood | Tallula | - | Heavy rainfall rates of 2.00 to 2.50 per hour for nearly 90 minutes resulted in flash flooding across southern Menard County. Most rural roads were impassable due to the heavy rain. |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tallula | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down 10 power poles 3 miles southwest of Tallula. |
| November 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tallula | - | In Tallula, a shed was destroyed. Several other sheds were either damaged or destroyed in the Petersburg area. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Also, one home sustained minor damage 3 miles north northeast of Petersburg. A wall on the attached garage was damaged. No injuries were reported and no damage estimate was available. |
| September 2015 | Hail | Tallula | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Tallula | - | no account filed |
| March 2006 | Hail | Tallula | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tallula | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Tallula | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Tallula | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Tallula | - | no account filed |
| April 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Tallula | - | no account filed |
| April 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Tallula | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hill Top | 4.2 miles | 13 | |
| Lake Petersburg | 4.8 miles | 14 | |
| Loyd | 4.9 miles | 14 | |
| New Salem (historical) | 5.5 miles | 14 | |
| Lewisburg | 5.8 miles | 14 | |
| Old Salem Chautauqua | 6.3 miles | 14 | |
| Hilltop | 6.5 miles | 13 | |
| Petersburg | 6.6 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.
| Wikipedia article on Tallula | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2224269 | 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 419528. 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.





