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Walton, Illinois

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Marion Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61021. The Survey maps it on the Walton quadrangle.

Walton within Lee County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 10 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

1,143 words on this township

History of Lee County, published 1881 names this settlement in its chapter on Marion Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

In 1876, through the efibrts of Messrs. Conderman, Jones and McCrystal, a station was located in the central part of the town, which is now known as Walton. This station is composed of one large elevator, one store, one blacksmith and wagon shop.

Passage source: History of Lee County, published 1881.

Arthur McOrystal, Walton, son of William and Ann McCrystal, was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, in 1837. In 1842 he came with his father to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, district of Richmond, and there received his education. In 1855 he came with his father to Lee county. His father bought land in ]N".E. ^ of Sec. 22, in Marion township. Arthur was supervisor two years, and in 1877 was the greenback candidate for sheriff, and received 890 votes. Mr. McCrystal was married in 1868, to Miss Bridget Sheridan, also a native of Ireland. He is a prosperous farmer and also quite a prominent politician.

Passage source: History of Lee County, published 1881.

Charles E. Abell, Walton. The subject of this sketch is the son of Jabez L. and Sarah Abell, and was born in Middlesex county, Connecticut, in 18Jr9. He resided there until seven years of age, when he moved with his father's family to De Kalb county, Illinois, and remained ten years. At the end of that time he came to Marion township and bought land in Sec. 11. In the fall of 1874 Mr. Abell moved to the village of Harmon, where he spent three years in teaching school. In 1877 he returned to Marion township and engaged in the dry-goods and grocery business at Walton Station, and is also buying grain at that place. He was married in 1873, to Miss Lvdia A. Rathburn, a native of Lee county.

Passage source: History of Lee County, published 1881.

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 Marion Township - it names this place 1 more 1 time.

Fires near this place

10 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Walton between 2008 and 2016, burning about 61 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/undetermined7
Debris and open burning2
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
30 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources10228
13 May 2013Debris and open burning50 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13-95
4 April 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources40408
16 April 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesROAD
14 April 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources2016-6349
28 March 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesGRUCHALSKI
16 March 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources31608
17 December 2013Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13-203

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lee County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Walton: 2 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Robbin's QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Russell/Miller Portable #1 QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Lee County

Storms near this place

8 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Walton in 8 storm reports between 2006 and 2024: 5 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. 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
June 2009Thunderstorm WindWalton$20,000A barn was destroyed. Trees were also blown down.
June 2024Heavy RainWalton-Private weather KILDIXON53 recorded 2.71 inches of rain in an hour and a half's time. 2.28 inches of that fell in 40 minutes with over an inch being recorded in a 15 minute span.
April 2023HailWalton-Golf ball size hail was reported west of Amboy.
May 2016Flash FloodWalton-Small part of U.S. Highway 30 was closed for a period overnight due to water being waist deep. One vehicle was stranded.
April 2013HailWalton-Nickel sized hail covered the ground.
May 2018HailWalton-no account filed
July 2008HailWalton-no account filed
May 2006HailWalton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lee 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
Eldena4.2 miles12
Shelburn (historical)5.0 miles10
Amboy5.8 miles10
Harmon6.1 miles12
Maytown7.1 miles10
Binghampton7.1 miles10
Nachusa8.4 miles12
Lee Center8.8 miles10

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 420496. 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.