Wilton Center, Illinois
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Wilton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60442. The Survey maps it on the Wilton Center quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 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.
- 1949 USGS Peotone quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Chicago quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1953 USGS Wilton Center quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Chicago quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Kankakee quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Wilton Center quadrangle1:24000
- 1991 USGS Kankakee quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
235 words on this townshipHistory of Will County Illinois, published 1878 names this settlement in its chapter on Wilton Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Wilton Center was platted, originally, in 1860; but, subsequently, the plat was taken up and a new plat made in 1876. The plat consists of about forty acres, of which Jabez Harvey is principal proprietor. Its history is not greatly dissimilar, as to success, to its little rival at the other end of the grove. It contains two general stores, two wagon-shops, two churches, and dwellings and other buildings in proportion. The population is about one hundred and fifty.
Passage source: History of Will County Illinois, published 1878.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Fires near this place
9 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Wilton Center between 2006 and 2020, burning about 7 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 were 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 May 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 1700428 |
| 2 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie | WAPONSEE |
| 18 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 1039 |
| 11 April 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 12-244 |
| 10 April 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.3 acres | Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie | SYMERTON |
| 26 February 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie | ARSENAL |
| 21 December 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie | WAPAUONSEE |
| 8 October 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie | BALE FIRE |
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 Wilton Center: 2 past producers. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Wilton Township Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
4 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wilton Center in 4 storm reports between 2007 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind. 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 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wilton Center | $1,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wilton Center | - | A private weather station measured a wind gust to 64 mph. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wilton Center | - | Multiple tree limbs 5 to 6 inches in diameter were blown down. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wilton Center | - | Photos shared on social media showed a semi truck blown over, northward on Wilmington Road, west of Route 45. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallingford | 1.6 miles | 13 | |
| Wilton | 2.4 miles | 16 | |
| Andres | 4.3 miles | 13 | |
| Century East | 5.1 miles | 16 | |
| Manhattan | 5.1 miles | 16 | |
| Symerton | 5.2 miles | 21 | |
| Elwood | 8.8 miles | 22 | |
| Ballou | 9.1 miles | 21 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 421310. 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.






