Bluffton, Iowa
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Bluffton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52101. It stands on Pine Creek. The Survey maps it on the Bluffton quadrangle.
On record in Bluffton
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 2 records
- Gilliece Bridgelisted 1998
- Upper Bluffton Bridgelisted 1998
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 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.
- 1906 USGS Decorah quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Decorah 2 NW quadrangle1:24000
- 1976 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Bluffton quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Decorah quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Bluffton between 2012 and 2018, burning about 2 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 | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 March 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 19 January 2013 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | 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 Bluffton: 6 past producers, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burr Oak Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Carolan Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
20 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bluffton in 20 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 8 thunderstorm wind, 3 flood, 3 hail, 2 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2007 | Flood | Bluffton | $150,000 | Heavy rains led to flooding across parts of the county, mainly causing infrastructure damage. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | $60,000 | Trees were blown down at a farm in rural northwest Winneshiek County. One of the trees fell onto the porch of the farm house. Metal was blown off two metal outbuildings and a livestock trailer was rolled down a hill. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Bluffton | $60,000 | Scenic River Road damaged by water. Time estimated. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Bluffton | $45,000 | County Road W20 suffered damage from flood waters. Time was estimated. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | $15,000 | The public reported both a tree onto a roadway and loss of power in Bluffton. |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | $12,000 | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | $2,000 | Trees were blown down near Bluffton. |
| May 2017 | Tornado (EF0) | Bluffton | $2,000 | A brief EF-0 tornado touched down northeast of Ridgeway. The tornado only produced some tree damage. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | $1,500 | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Hail | Bluffton | - | A trained spotter reported penny to quarter size hail 2 miles south-southeast of Bluffton. |
| August 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Bluffton | - | This brief EF-0 tornado developed about 2 miles southeast of Bluffton. It lasted for one minute, damaging several trees but causing no damage to structures. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | - | The public reported small tree limbs down throughout the town of Bluffton. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | - | An estimated 62 mph gust occurred in Bluffton. |
| June 2018 | Flood | Bluffton | - | Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Upper Iowa River out of its banks in Bluffton. The river crested just over the flood stage at 14.11 feet on the 10th. |
| August 2016 | Flood | Bluffton | - | Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Upper Iowa River out of its banks in Bluffton. The river crested less than a half foot above the flood stage at 14.41 feet. |
| October 2013 | Heavy Rain | Bluffton | - | In Bluffton, 2.25 inches of rain was measured. |
| August 2014 | Hail | Bluffton | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Bluffton | - | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Funnel Cloud | Bluffton | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burr Oak | 4.6 miles | 12 | |
| Kendallville | 7.1 miles | 7 | |
| Ridgeway | 8.3 miles | 12 | |
| Springwater | 9.1 miles | 12 | |
| Hesper | 9.5 miles | 12 | |
| Decorah | 9.6 miles | 12 | |
| Locust | 10.1 miles | 12 | |
| Freeport | 11.3 miles | 12 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 454725. 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.







