Atalissa, Iowa
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Goshen Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52720. The Survey maps it on the Atalissa quadrangle. 296 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 659 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAtalissa fell from 311 to 296 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 | 311 | |
| 2020 | 296 | -15 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 12 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.
- 1891 USGS Wilton Junction quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1901 USGS Stanwood quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Atalissa quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Iowa City quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
8 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Atalissa between 2013 and 2020, burning about 103 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 | 7 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 August 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | 40 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 April 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 13 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 March 2020 | Debris and open burning | 8.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 12 March 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 27 February 2016 | Debris and open burning | 40 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | WILLIAMSBURG FIRE |
| 6 October 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Atalissa: 5 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atalissa Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Atalissa Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Atalissa Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Atalissa Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Mc Killip Sand Dredge and Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Thorpe Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
21 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Atalissa in 21 storm reports between 2002 and 2024: 13 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 flood, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2016 | Flood | Atalissa | $150,000 | Heavy rainfall of 4 to over 10 inches over significant areas from 21 to 23 September in extreme North Central and Northeast Iowa moved downstream causing the Cedar River to rise above major flood stage levels. ||Conesville rose above its major flood stage level of 16.5 feet on September 28th, 2016 at approximately 5 AM CST. It crested around 18.2 feet at approximately 9 AM CST on September 29th, 2016. It fell below major flood stage on October 1st around 11 pm CST.||Major flooding continued into October. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Atalissa | $100,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | $50,000 | Tree down on a 35 foot camper |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | $40,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | $25,000 | Trees and power lines down |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | $20,000 | 2 semi trucks blown over with significant power lines down |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | $15,000 | 6 power poles down |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | $5,000 | Large branches down across county |
| April 2006 | Hail | Atalissa | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | $2,000 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | - | Small trees blown down, and several branches. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | - | Winds produced debris all over Highway 6, outside of Atalissa. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | - | A public report of a 58 MPH thunderstorm wind gust. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | - | Five large trees and many branches downed at Saulsbury Bridge Recreation Area. One tree took down a powerline. Time estimated by radar. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | - | A tree was blown onto power lines. |
| October 2016 | Flood | Atalissa | - | Heavy rainfall of 4 to over 10 inches over significant areas from 21 to 23 September in extreme North Central and Northeast Iowa moved downstream|causing the Cedar River to rise above major flood stage levels. The Cedar River at|Conesville rose above its major flood stage level of 16.5 feet on September 28th, 2016 at approximately 5 AM CST. It crested around 18.2 feet at|approximately 9 AM CST on September 29th, 2016. It fell below major flood stage on October 1st around 11 pm CST. For damage information please see September Storm Data. |
| June 2014 | Flash Flood | Atalissa | - | A trained spotter reported the entire town of Atalissa was flooded with water 1 foot deep in places. Highway 6 was closed west of town. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Atalissa | - | Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew some tree branches down in Atalissa, IA at 520 pm CDT May 22. |
| April 2002 | Lightning | Atalissa | - | Lightning struck a 100 year old Cottonwood tree. Witnesses said it sounded like a bomb going off. Pieces of the tree were found as far as 200 feet away, and several were speared into the ground with tremendous force. The lightning traveled down the tree and dug a deep trench in the ground, heading toward a metal storage shed. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Atalissa | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Atalissa | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moscow | 4.4 miles | 14 | |
| West Liberty | 5.2 miles | 11 | |
| Dayfield (historical) | 7.4 miles | 9 | |
| Wilton | 8.0 miles | 14 | |
| South Towne Park | 8.6 miles | 14 | |
| Summit | 8.7 miles | 14 | |
| Kent Estates | 9.4 miles | 12 | |
| Nichols | 9.7 miles | 8 |
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 Atalissa | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1778746 | 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 454271. 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.






