Afton, Iowa
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Union Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50830. The Survey maps it on the Afton quadrangle. 874 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,240 feet above sea level.
On record in Afton
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
- Odd Fellows Blocklisted 2014
Population over time
2 figuresAfton grew from 845 to 874 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 845 | |
| 2020 | 874 | +29 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 11 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1951 USGS Afton quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS Afton quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Creston quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS Creston quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
29 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Afton between 2007 and 2020, burning about 334 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 17 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 July 2012 | Smoking | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 June 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 14 May 2012 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 1 May 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.5 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 April 2013 | Debris and open burning | 4.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Afton: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afton Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Afton-Lacena Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
47 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Afton in 47 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 18 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 6 heavy rain, 4 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | 1 hurt, $2,000 | A tree was blown over and injured one person. He received a punctured lung and head injuries. |
| May 2007 | Hail | Afton | $750,000 | no account filed |
| April 2024 | Tornado (EF2) | Afton | $500,000 | This tornado formed between the BNSF railroad and Highway 34 west of Afton and took a track very similar to a tornado which occurred earlier in the hour. It produced EF2 damage to several house on either side of Highway 34 as it travelled to the northeast. The tornado crossed Three Mile Lake just upstream of the dam and impacted a structure in the Wildlife Management Building area just a few hundred yards from the one impacted in the earlier tornado. This tornado then moved northeast through rural Union County impacting another farmstead producing EF2 damage. The tornado dissipated in the north central portion of Union County near the intersection of Pheasant Avenue and 130th Street. |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $500,000 | A two-story brick building with wooden roof and shingles was damaged. Roof and shingles were blown off. A 4 foot diameter tree was uprooted in the city park and 3 air handling units were blown off of the East Union High School in Afton. Tin was blown off the feed mill. |
| April 2001 | Tornado (F2) | Afton | $150,000 | Tornado moved from Ringgold County, across Union County, into Clarke County. |
| April 2024 | Tornado (EF2) | Afton | $100,000 | This tornado developed west of Afton and quickly moved northeast. It crossed the BNSF railroad and Highway 34 before passing near the Three Mile Lake Dam. This tornado produced EF2 at one of the Wildlife Management Center's buildings before proceeding into rural areas of northern Union county. There was limited damage in this rolling terrain area with mostly tree damage although a few farmsteads were impacted with EF0 or EF1 damage. The tornado then crossed into Madison County northwest of Lorimor. |
| July 2015 | Flood | Afton | $100,000 | Flooding continued on over a dozen roads in the southeastern quarter of the county due to the 3 to 5 inches of rain that had fallen. Numerous roads near the Thayer area had been impacted. |
| May 2007 | Hail | Afton | $100,000 | no account filed |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Flash Flood | Afton | $10,000 | The Union County Sherriff's office reported 3 feet of water mixed with hail and cornstalks running over 205th St. at Lark St. west of Afton. Street flooding was reported in Afton. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $10,000 | Wind reported by the Afton News. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $5,000 | KCCI reported that multiple tree branches were down around town and that the town was without power at the time of the report. |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Afton | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $3,000 | Report from an RWIS site. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Afton | $3,000 | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $3,000 | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $2,000 | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Afton | $2,000 | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Afton | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | $2,000 | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Afton | $1,000 | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Hail | Afton | $1,000 | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Hail | Afton | $1,000 | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Hail | Afton | - | Spotter reported dime to quarter sized hail. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | - | Social media report of 4 inch diameter tree limb snapped. Time estimated from radar. |
| September 2025 | Hail | Afton | - | Trained spotter reported nickel sized hail on Highway 34 east of Creston. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | - | Metal shed damaged and 3 to 4 inch diameter trees down 2.5 miles south of Afton. |
| June 2022 | Hail | Afton | - | Nickel sized hail accompanied by strong winds. |
| June 2017 | Funnel Cloud | Afton | - | Trained spotter reported a funnel cloud. |
| August 2016 | Heavy Rain | Afton | - | Home weather station accumulation since 3:30am. |
| August 2015 | Heavy Rain | Afton | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of 4.75 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| September 2014 | Heavy Rain | Afton | - | Rainfall of 3.66 inches for the afternoon and evening. |
| September 2014 | Heavy Rain | Afton | - | Rainfall of 6.10 inches through the afternoon and evening. |
| September 2014 | Heavy Rain | Afton | - | Rainfall for the past 24 hours was 8.8 inches. |
| May 2013 | Heavy Rain | Afton | - | The public reported 4.5 inches of rain in the past two hours. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Afton | - | Measured by a KCCI schoolnet site. |
| June 2008 | Tornado (EF1) | Afton | - | Report relayed by KCCI television. Also from several storm chasers and spotters. This tornado crossed from Union County into Clarke County. |
| June 2008 | Funnel Cloud | Afton | - | A rain wrapped funnel cloud was observed 3 miles northwest of Highway 169 and Highway 34. |
| June 2008 | Funnel Cloud | Afton | - | A spotter located at the intersection of Highway 169 and Highway 34 reported a rain wrapped funnel cloud. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Afton | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Afton | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shepard (historical) | 3.5 miles | 8 | |
| Afton Junction (historical) | 4.0 miles | 11 | |
| Talmage | 4.6 miles | 11 | |
| Arispe | 5.5 miles | 8 | |
| East Creston | 7.6 miles | 9 | |
| Monette | 7.8 miles | 11 | |
| Thayer | 7.8 miles | 11 | |
| Creston | 8.9 miles | 9 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Afton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1916199 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 454101. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
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.






