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Photograph of Joseph Steffens House
Photograph by Jon Roanhaus, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Joseph Steffens House

Built in 1843. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

From the record

“The Joseph Steffens House is a historic house located in eastern Carroll County, Illinois, east of Milledgeville. Settler Joseph Steffens built the rammed earth house in 1843; it is the only surviving rammed earth house in the state.”

Wikipedia article Joseph Steffens House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 6 National Register listings published here for Carroll County · listed in 1985 · category: Building · built in 1843.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Listed as. Steffens, Joseph, House - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
  • Address. Off of Elkhorn Rd., Milledgeville, 61051
  • When was it listed? April 1985
  • Category. building
  • Township. Elkhorn Grove township
  • When was it built? 1843
  • National Register reference number. 85000771 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

560 words

This property stands in Elkhorn Grove Township. The History of Carroll County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County-its Cities, Towns, Etc., a Biographical Directory ... War Record ... Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men ... History of the Northwest ... Illinois ... Miscellaneous Matters, Etc, published 1878 gives that township a chapter of its own.

The chapter covers the township.

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 Elkhorn Grove Township - 560 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Mines and quarries near this property

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Joseph Steffens House: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 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
Eller QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Shank QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Sier QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Carroll County

Storms near this property

41 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Milledgeville, the town this property stands in, in 41 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 32 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 tornado, 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
April 2010Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville$750,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph caused a west-facing wall of a church to collapse in Milledgeville, IL around 858 pm April 5. In addition, several 3 foot diameter trees were blown down. Numerous power lines were also knocked down resulting in a power outage to much of the town. Most of the damage was across the northwest part of town and extended about 0.5 miles to the north.
April 2010Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville$100,000Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph damaged some outbuildings about 1 mile west of Milledgeville, IL around 845 pm April 5.
April 2010Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville$50,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down several large trees in Milledgeville, IL around 855 pm April 5. The fallen trees knocked down power lines and destroyed the end of a machine shed.
May 1999Heavy RainMilledgeville$20,000Localized heavy rain caused basement walls in 2 separate houses to collapse. Up to 4 feet of mud poured into the basements. Damage to each house and the contents was estimated at $10,000.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville$5,000Wind gusts downed tree limbs in Milledgeville.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville$5,000Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down some large branches and power lines in Milledgeville, IL at 650 pm August 4.
April 2006HailMilledgeville$5,000also reported by law enforcement. Hail covered the ground.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville$3,000A wind gust estimated at 57 knots (65 mph) resulted in 8-10 inch diameter limbs downed that landed up to 10 feet away from their parent tree. A garage door was pushed in on a residence.
March 2006HailMilledgeville$3,000no account filed
August 2006Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville$2,000A storm survey discovered 6 to 8 inch diameter limbs down on the west side of highway 40.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville$1,000Power lines were blown down.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville$500Strong thunderstorm winds downed several trees.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Trees blown down. Time estimated from radar data.
April 2023HailMilledgeville-The Milledgeville Fire Department hail ranging in size from pea to quarter.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-A trained spotter reported damage from wind driven hail at this location. The wind driven hail caused two pieces of siding to fall off along with damage to a window and many dents in the remaining siding.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-A spotter estimated 55 to 60 mph gust.
May 2020Tornado (EFU)Milledgeville-A tornado developed ENE of Morrison, IL in Whiteside County, shortly before 2:30 pm. The tornado followed an intermittent path northeast before hitting a farmstead near the Whiteside/Carroll County border. This tornado entered Carroll County about 2 miles WSW of Hazelhurst, and travelled a little more than 2 miles before dissipating. The tornado was rated EF1 in Whiteside County, with maximum winds estimated around 100 mph. The tornado was designated as EF-U in Carroll County, as there was no observable damage. The tornado was on the ground for about 24 minutes along an intermittent 12 mile path.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-A severe thunderstorm with straight line winds estimated around 100 mph caused significant damage in the Milledgeville, Illinois area. Damage began around 3 miles SW of Milledgeville, and continued through the town. Damage included numerous large trees uprooted and snapped, significant structural damage to large metal outbuildings, near destruction of a barn with cement block walls, and a large steel storage tank that was moved several feet. Damage swath was about 3 miles long.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-The county emergency manager reported multiple large trees and power lines down, and an empty grain bin blown over railroad tracks.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-A trained spotter reported a large tree uprooted in the town of Milledgeville.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-A trained spotter estimated max wind gusts of around 60 mph.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-A public report was received of 3 inch in diameter tree branches down.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Emergency manager reports a large tree limb down at a residence. The time is estimated from radar.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-The emergency manager reported 60 mph winds.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-The Emergency Manager estimated wind speeds of 40 to 60 MPH along with a report of two buildings down at the Fairgrounds.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph were observed in Milledgeville, IL at 745 pm CDT June 29.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down several trees and limbs in Milledgeville, IL at 749 pm CDT June 29.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some branches just east of Milledgeville, IL at 613 pm CDT May 22.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some 8 to 10 inch diameter tree limbs in Milledgeville, IL at 638 pm CDT May 22.
April 2010Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph uprooted some 3 foot diameter trees about 1 mile north of Milledgeville, IL around 845 pm April 5.
May 2009Flash FloodMilledgeville-Heavy rains caused the flash flooding of a low lying railroad underpass in Milledgeville, IL during the evening of May 13.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down about six 8 to 10 inch diameter tree limbs in Milledgeville, IL at 6:25 pm June 12.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some two inch diameter tree branches in Milledgeville, IL at 7:00 pm June 12.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph were observed in Milledgeville, IL at 630 pm August 4. Sustained wind speeds of 40 mph were observed for about ten minutes.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some trees and branches in the vicinity of Milledgeville, IL at 620 pm August 4. A power outage was also observed. A trained spotter also contributed to this report.
May 1999Tornado (F0)Milledgeville-Law enforcement officials reported a brief tornado. No damage was reported.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-Winds of 60 to 70 mph blew tres down.
April 2023HailMilledgeville-no account filed
May 2015HailMilledgeville-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindMilledgeville-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Carroll County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

1 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Charles Franks House6.8 miles1998

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 85000771 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Carroll CountyAll 6 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • 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.