Editing Gorham, Illinois (section)

==Geography==
Gorham is located at {{coord|37|43|1|N|89|29|9|W|type:city}} (37.716897, -89.485804).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Gorham has a total area of {{convert|1.23|sqmi|km2|2}}, of which {{convert|1.22|sqmi|km2|2}} (or 99.11%) is land and {{convert|0.01|sqmi|km2|2}} (or 0.89%) is water.<ref name="gaz2021">{{Cite web |author=US Census Bureau |title=Gazetteer Files |url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=Census.gov}}</ref>

Gorham is located in the middle of the Mississippi River floodplain, which is among the most fertile farming regions in the Midwestern United States. The village is at a particularly low elevated region of the floodplain known as the "Bottoms". This makes it more susceptible to flooding, as it was threatened in the infamous [[Great Flood of 1993]] and the New Year's Day Flood of 2016.

In 1925, the powerful [[Tri-State tornado outbreak|Tri-State Tornado]] struck the town at 2:26pm. Out of the 80 houses in the town, 60 were destroyed and the other 20 were damaged. The train depot and all the store fronts were also destroyed, as well as the top two floors of the school leaving only the first. 34 people were killed in the tornado.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Partlow |first=Geoff |title=America's Deadliest Twister: The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 |publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=978-0-8093-3346-2 |edition=1st |publication-date=July 25, 2014 |pages=6–10}}</ref>

Less than one mile south of Gorham is a large hill named Fountain Bluff. Though the bluff is not exceptionally well-known, its rock faces do attract occasional rock-climbers.  Etched into cliffs on the north side of this landform are several Native American [[petroglyph]]s.