Wayfarrow

Shelburn

Ghost town · Lee County, Illinois

Amboy quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1951, 1:62,500)
Amboy quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1951, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Shelburn is a ghost town in Lee County, Illinois. It is one of 2 former communities in Lee County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 44th among the 78 Illinois counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Shelburn as a historical populated place on the Amboy topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 41.6975° N, 89.3473° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleAmboy
Elevation733 ft
Nearest living townAmboy, IL
Distance to it1.3 miles
GNIS feature ID1816587
Coordinates41.69753, -89.34732

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Shelburn is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Amboy, IL (population 2,396), about 1.3 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 733 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Shelburn?

Shelburn is in Lee County, Illinois, at 41.6975, -89.3473.

How many ghost towns are in Lee County?

Lee County, Illinois has 2 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.