RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Illinois >> McDonough County >> Prairie CityIndex...

Welcome to Prairie City ...

The village of Prairie City is located in McDonough County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Prairie City, you might consider that their post office opened in 1855.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Prairie City has a population of 350 people<2> (see below for details).

Prairie City is 660 feet [201 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Area Codes for Prairie City: 309 & 861<4>

The ZIP code for Prairie City: 61470<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Prairie City had an population of 350 people. This is a decrease of 7.65% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 24.08% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Prairie City had a population of 379 people. This makes Prairie City the county's 7th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 379 people, the population of Prairie City decreased 17.79% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 461 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Prairie City.

Communities Also Named Prairie City ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 11 communities that are also named Prairie City - they are located in California, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (3), Missouri (3), Oregon and South Dakota.

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

Communities near Prairie City ...

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

  • Macomb
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Macomb is located in McDonough County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macomb
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,206 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Macomb <6>
  • Abingdon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Bushnell
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Cuba
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cuba is located in Fulton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,149 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cuba <6>
  • Roseville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Fairview
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Ipava
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Table Grove
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • London Mills
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Good Hope
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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 Prairie City. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Prairie City.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Prairie City. 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 Prairie City.

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Prairie City ...

Looking for more information about Prairie City? 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 Prairie City, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Prairie City.

Adding Prairie City to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Prairie City 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 (so far) for Prairie City was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Prairie City post office opened in 1855.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Prairie City.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including McDonough, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Prairie City.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Prairie City - 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 309 code has been Overlayed with the 861 area code. New phone numbers in the Prairie City area will be assigned with one of these codes: 309 or 861. As a result, placing a call in the Prairie City area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a village (such as Prairie City). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Prairie City or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

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