BlockBefore

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.

Afton within Union County

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

Population over time

2 figures

Afton 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.

YearPeople Change
2010845
2020874+29 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

29 since 2007

Regional 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 burning17
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Smoking1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
11 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 July 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 July 2012Smokingunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 June 2012Debris and open burningunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 May 2012Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 May 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 April 2014Debris and open burning15 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
2 April 2013Debris and open burning4.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Union County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Afton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Afton-Lacena PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Union County

Storms near this place

47 since 1997

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2004Thunderstorm WindAfton1 hurt, $2,000A tree was blown over and injured one person. He received a punctured lung and head injuries.
May 2007HailAfton$750,000no account filed
April 2024Tornado (EF2)Afton$500,000This 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 2009Thunderstorm WindAfton$500,000A 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 2001Tornado (F2)Afton$150,000Tornado moved from Ringgold County, across Union County, into Clarke County.
April 2024Tornado (EF2)Afton$100,000This 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 2015FloodAfton$100,000Flooding 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 2007HailAfton$100,000no account filed
August 2009Thunderstorm WindAfton$25,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindAfton$20,000no account filed
May 2013Flash FloodAfton$10,000The 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 2008Thunderstorm WindAfton$10,000Wind reported by the Afton News.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindAfton$10,000no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindAfton$10,000no account filed
August 2004Thunderstorm WindAfton$10,000no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindAfton$10,000no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindAfton$5,000KCCI reported that multiple tree branches were down around town and that the town was without power at the time of the report.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindAfton$5,000no account filed
September 2002HailAfton$5,000no account filed
May 2008Thunderstorm WindAfton$3,000Report from an RWIS site.
April 2014HailAfton$3,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindAfton$3,000no account filed
August 2007Thunderstorm WindAfton$2,000no account filed
April 2006HailAfton$2,000no account filed
June 2005HailAfton$2,000no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindAfton$2,000no account filed
June 2010HailAfton$1,000no account filed
April 2009HailAfton$1,000no account filed
May 1997HailAfton$1,000no account filed
April 2025HailAfton-Spotter reported dime to quarter sized hail.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindAfton-Social media report of 4 inch diameter tree limb snapped. Time estimated from radar.
September 2025HailAfton-Trained spotter reported nickel sized hail on Highway 34 east of Creston.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindAfton-Metal shed damaged and 3 to 4 inch diameter trees down 2.5 miles south of Afton.
June 2022HailAfton-Nickel sized hail accompanied by strong winds.
June 2017Funnel CloudAfton-Trained spotter reported a funnel cloud.
August 2016Heavy RainAfton-Home weather station accumulation since 3:30am.
August 2015Heavy RainAfton-Public reported heavy rainfall of 4.75 inches over the last 24 hours.
September 2014Heavy RainAfton-Rainfall of 3.66 inches for the afternoon and evening.
September 2014Heavy RainAfton-Rainfall of 6.10 inches through the afternoon and evening.
September 2014Heavy RainAfton-Rainfall for the past 24 hours was 8.8 inches.
May 2013Heavy RainAfton-The public reported 4.5 inches of rain in the past two hours.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindAfton-Measured by a KCCI schoolnet site.
June 2008Tornado (EF1)Afton-Report relayed by KCCI television. Also from several storm chasers and spotters. This tornado crossed from Union County into Clarke County.
June 2008Funnel CloudAfton-A rain wrapped funnel cloud was observed 3 miles northwest of Highway 169 and Highway 34.
June 2008Funnel CloudAfton-A spotter located at the intersection of Highway 169 and Highway 34 reported a rain wrapped funnel cloud.
April 2025HailAfton-no account filed
May 2013HailAfton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Union County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Shepard (historical)3.5 miles8
Afton Junction (historical)4.0 miles11
Talmage4.6 miles11
Arispe5.5 miles8
East Creston7.6 miles9
Monette7.8 miles11
Thayer7.8 miles11
Creston8.9 miles9

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 AftonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1916199The 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.