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Welcome to Irene ...

Irene is located in Boone County<1>.

The pronunciation of Irene: eye-REEN<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Irene, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1888.

Irene is 810 feet [247 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Irene lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Irene: 815 & 779<4>

Communities Also Named Irene ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 13 communities that are also named Irene - they are located in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas (2), Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Irene.

Communities near Irene ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Irene.

  • Rockford
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • De Kalb
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Belvidere
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Loves Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loves Park have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loves Park
    • Loves Park is located in Winnebago County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 23,382 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loves Park <5>
  • Machesney Park
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Machesney Park have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Machesney Park
    • Machesney Park is located in Winnebago County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,678 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Machesney Park <5>
  • Sycamore
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sycamore have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore
    • Sycamore is located in DeKalb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,317 people
  • Roscoe
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Roscoe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roscoe
    • Roscoe is located in Winnebago County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,406 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roscoe <5>
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Roscoe
    • From Irene to Roscoe
  • Rochelle
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Marengo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marengo have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
    • Marengo is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,377 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marengo <5>
  • Genoa
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Genoa have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
    • Genoa is located in DeKalb County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,251 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Genoa <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Irene. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Irene.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Irene. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Irene.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Irene. See our Newspapers Page for Irene.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Irene ...

Looking for more information about Irene? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Irene, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Irene.

Adding Irene to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Irene in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Irene was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

X2X - From that list, the Irene post office opened in 1888.

We also found Irene in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Irene.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Irene. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Boone County: www.boonecountyil.org/

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Boone, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Irene. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Irene - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 815 code has been Overlayed with the 779 area code. New phone numbers in the Irene area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Irene area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<7>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025