Waynesville, Illinois
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1957 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Waynesville Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61778. It stands on Rock Creek. The Survey maps it on the Waynesville East quadrangle. 381 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 723 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresWaynesville fell from 434 to 381 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 | 434 | |
| 2020 | 381 | -53 (-12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 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.
- 1957 USGS Kenney quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Peoria quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1961 USGS Peoria quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Peoria quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Waynesville East quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Lincoln quadrangle1:100000
- 1989 USGS Lincoln quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Peoria quadrangle1:250000
In the county-history sources
14,946 words on this township... History of De Witt County, Illinois. With Illustrations Descriptive of the Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1882 names this settlement in its chapter on Waynesville Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The first goods sold in the town l being the first in the county,) were by Greenman \' Dunham in 1830, two years before the town was laid out. They had a small stock of notions and groceries, and their customers carae for many miles around. At this time there was but one store in Bloomington, which was kept by James Allin, founder of both the towns of Bloomington and Clinton. The store-room of the firm of Greenman & Dunham was a small hewed log cabin, situated in the eastern limits of the present corporation of Waynesville. It was afterwards taken down and moved to another spot in the same part of the town. It is now weather-boarded, and is used as a part of James AI. Evans' dwelling.
Passage source: ... History of De Witt County, Illinois. With Illustrations Descriptive of the Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1882.
The first frame building was erected by Benjamin Day for a dwelling in 1832, and located on Maltby street in the lot now occupied by R. H. Dragstern's store-room. The building was torn down many years ago. The first school-house was built by George Isham in 1836. and situated in the first addition to Waynesville, on Maltby street, in the lot now occupied by Addison Harrison. It was a little log building, and the first school taught in it "as by Linus Graves.
Passage source: ... History of De Witt County, Illinois. With Illustrations Descriptive of the Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1882.
At this writing the town 'of Waynesville contains about 360 inhabitants. Two fine brick business houses are already in process of erection ; and there appears in all parts of the town a good show of energy and push for a small country town. The people have met with several reverses to retard the progress of their town, among which, probably the most prominent, was the cholera epidemic in the latter part of the summer of 1855. The following are the names of the deaths in the village of that year : Dugald Walker and wife : Young Fonts, wife and child ; Mrs. Hogland ; Mrs. Isaac Bowman and child ; Mrs. Grimes ; Dr. F. S. Harrison; a child of J. P. Dunham, and a child of Mr. Shelly, - 12 in all. In the neighborhood of the village the following were the deaths : John Ackerson, wife, sister and four children ; Alexander Gaston, and one other person, name not known. Great suffering and privations prevailed at this time for the lack of nurses, and medical attendance. The family of Ackerson were all buried in rude boxes, and interred in the night, so afraid were the people of the infection spreading in their midst.
Passage source: ... History of De Witt County, Illinois. With Illustrations Descriptive of the Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1882.
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 Waynesville Township - it names this place 9 more 9 times.
Fires near this place
2 since 2014Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Waynesville in 2014, burning about 51 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 | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 68 |
| 29 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2014028 |
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 Waynesville: 1 producer. All of them still produce. 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twomey Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
19 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waynesville in 19 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 11 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | $70,000 | Several power poles were blown down. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | $15,000 | Several large tree branches were blown down in Waynesville. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | $10,000 | Several 6-inch diameter tree limbs were blown down across Thorps Road. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | $6,000 | A power pole was blown down. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | - | A few large tree limbs were blown down. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | - | Powerlines were blown down east of Waynesville along Jim Town Road. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | - | Numerous tree branches were blown down. |
| June 2023 | Tornado (EF1) | Waynesville | - | This tornado crossed from far eastern Logan County into western DeWitt County just north of the intersection of 2400th Avenue and Thorps Road at 12:37 PM CDT. It tracked eastward, collapsing a farm building near the intersection of South Road and Thorps Road before entering the town of Wapella. The tornado was at its widest at this point and caused extensive tree damage and some home damage in Wapella before dissipating 3 miles east of Wapella at 12:46 PM CDT. |
| May 2019 | Flood | Waynesville | - | Spotters and observers reported heavy rain of 2.50 to 4.00 inches during the early morning hours of May 1st. This resulted in widespread flooding across much of western and central DeWitt County. Multiple streets in Clinton were flooded, and several rural roads were closed due to flowing water. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | - | A large tree was broken. |
| February 2014 | Flash Flood | Waynesville | - | Rainfall of 0.50 to 1.00 combined with 2 of snow depth and a frozen ground to produce rapid flash flooding across most of DeWitt County. Many streets in Clinton were flooded and most rural roads were impassable. Several bridges in the rural parts of the county were also flooded. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | - | A few trees and power lines were blown down. |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous trees and power lines. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waynesville | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several power lines and trees between Waynesville and 3 miles northeast of Wapella. No injuries were reported. |
| June 1994 | Hail | Waynesville | - | Three-quarter to two inch hail was reported in Waynesville. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Waynesville | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Waynesville | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Waynesville | - | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Hail | Waynesville | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tabor | 4.1 miles | 12 | |
| Hallsville | 6.3 miles | 12 | |
| Midland City | 6.5 miles | 12 | |
| Jenkins | 7.6 miles | 12 | |
| Bucks | 8.3 miles | 14 | |
| Carle Springs | 8.3 miles | 14 | |
| Wapella | 8.6 miles | 13 | |
| Tunbridge | 9.5 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 Waynesville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1975321 | 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 420666. 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.







