BlockBurlington, Iowa
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Burlington City. It lies in ZIP code area 52601. It stands on O'Connell Slough. The Survey maps it on the Burlington quadrangle. 23,982 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 607 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Burlington
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 12 of 30 shown
Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Passenger Stationlisted 1976
Burlington Public Librarylisted 1975
Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Freight Houselisted 1983
Cascade Bridgelisted 1998
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Stationlisted 2002
Church of St. John the Baptistlisted 1982
Crapo Park and Arboretum Historic Districtlisted 1976
Mary Darwin Houselisted 1980
Des Moines County Court Houselisted 2003
Augustus Caesar Dodge Houselisted 1980
Downtown Commercial Historic Districtlisted 2015
First Congregational Churchlisted 1976
Population over time
2 figuresBurlington fell from 25,663 to 23,982 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 | 25,663 | |
| 2020 | 23,982 | -1,681 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 18 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.
- 1934 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:62500
- 1934 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:48000
- 1940 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1961 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1990 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
2 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Burlington between 2013 and 2014, burning about 4 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 | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 May 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 January 2013 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 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 Burlington: 7 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension, Clay, Limestone, Dimension, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington Quarries | Limestone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Granite Brick Co. Pit | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Kemper Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Miller-Ervin Quarries | Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Concrete Mt | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| County Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Sullivan Slough Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
60 of 137 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Burlington in 137 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 66 thunderstorm wind, 33 hail, 14 flood, 12 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 2010 | Lightning | Burlington | 1 hurt, $25,000 | Lightning struck a light pole near the main stage of Burlington Steamboat Days, blowing a chunk of concrete from the base of the pole and damaging sound equipment. A nearby man was injured by the lightning and another witness was treated for hyperventilation. |
| April 2001 | Lightning | West Burlington | 1 hurt | One person suffered minor injuries after being struck by lightning in a department store parking lot. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Burlington | $10,000,000 | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Burlington | $2,000,000 | Covered the ground |
| May 2003 | Hail | West Burlington | $1,000,000 | no account filed |
| April 1995 | Hail | West Burlington | $350,000 | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $150,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down a four foot diameter tree across Dumbell Lake Rd about 3 miles north of Burlington, IA around 340 am June 18. Several dozen additional large tree limbs were also blown down in the same area. In addition, a 100 foot tall tree fell onto a mobile home on Dumbell Lake Road. A garage on Tama Road was also damaged by a fallen tree limb. |
| August 2010 | Lightning | Burlington | $100,000 | Lightning struck a tower on the north side on top of the Burlington Police Department building around 645 pm CDT August 10. The strike affected the communications center's dispatching capabilities, phone systems, radio-assisted dispatch, computer systems, and some computers. The Burlington Police Department also contributed to this report. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $100,000 | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $75,000 | A very unstable air mass was over Iowa in advance of an approaching warm front. CAPE values were around 4000 J-kg-1 with lifted indices already -7° C. at sunrise. Surface dew point readings were in the middle 70s. Thunderstorms fired and produced heavy rain and hail. One cell dropped golf ball-size hail on the town of Pleasantville. The area of thunderstorm continued to spread and develop east into eastern Iowa. They dumped heavy rains and generally small hail as the moved southeast. A couple of the cells did become severe over the east central and southeast counties of the state. Golf ball-size hail fell in Johnson County at Hills. Another storm produced high winds as it passed through the Burlington area. Numerous trees were downed and windows were blown out of a few buildings. Three to four inches of rain fell in under two hours over both counties. Flooding was reported, but for the most part it was restricted to urban areas. Lightning struck a tree on a farm south of Dubuque. Several head of cattle were standing beneath the tree, 14 head were killed. Several others were downed, but were able to be revived. |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $75,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $70,000 | Also by media |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $50,000 | Trees down |
| September 2000 | Hail | Burlington | $50,000 | Baseball sized hail damaged several homes on 42nd Street. The large hail punched holes in windows and siding and dented several vehicles. Mobile homes nearby also suffered damage from the hail. |
| May 1996 | Lightning | Burlington | $30,000 | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | $25,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew half of a tree onto a house just west of the Burlington Regional Airport around 610 pm CDT June 16. |
| March 2006 | Hail | Burlington | $20,000 | Nickel to golfball sized hail; also reported by NWS personnel. |
| September 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $20,000 | Strong winds knocked down several large trees and tore off part of a roof of a residence on 42nd Street. |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $15,000 | Numerous trees and branches down. KBUR radio measured a peak gust at their station of 41 knots (47 mph). There is also a report of a measured gust of 52 knots (60 mph) on Adams street in Burlington. |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $15,000 | The same upper level low pressure area mentioned above continued to influence the weather over Iowa again on the 2nd. Temperatures at 500 mb remained around the -15° C range. Thunderstorms formed by mid day. A small tornado touched down briefly northeast of Ottumwa. It lifted a pop-up camper off of its jacks, but there was no other significant damage. During the later afternoon hours, thunderstorms spread south and east. The weather features were rather slow moving and as a result heavy rainfall occurred in Louisa and Des Moines Counties. In one hours time, 4.65 inches of rainfall was recorded in Columbus Junction. Parts of Des Moines County received five inches of rainfall in a short period of time. The heavy rainfall produced flash flooding. Two children were injured indirectly in Des Moines County as their mother lost control of the car while driving into the flood waters. The children, two and three years of age, were not fastened in their car seats. One was thrown in the car, the other was thrown through the window and into the ditch. Both were taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries. A citation was written charging the mother with failure to restrain her children. Flooding was also widespread in the urban areas. Burlington was quite hard hit. High winds from one of the storms tore part of the roof off of a house in Burlington. Also, in Burlington, lightning struck an electrical service box at a sewer station causing about $2000 in damage. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | $10,000 | also reported by law enforcement; numerous branches of 4 to 7 inches in diameter down. A 14 inch diameter branch down on a car. An 8x8 shed that was bolted to its foundation was moved off said foundation. |
| January 2017 | Flood | Burlington | $5,000 | Seasonably heavy rainfall upstream combined with a rare ice jam that impacted the river for several days resulted major flood conditions for a small segment of the Mississippi River around Burlington.||Roads were closed for a period of time impacting homes and structures near the Mississippi River. |
| April 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $5,000 | An isolated thunderstorm knocked down a tree onto an Alliant Energy transmission line connecting to a $3.2 million substation at the intersection of Fourth and Fifth Streets in Burlington, IA during the evening of April 23. Power was out to most of the downtown area until the early morning hours of April 24. Time estimated. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $5,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph downed utility poles and a few trees in Burlingtoin. Trees were also downed on US 61 and DMC 99. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $5,000 | tree branches down on vehicle. |
| September 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | $4,000 | Law enforcement estimated wind gusts at 50 to 60 mph. |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $3,000 | 6-10 inch diameter trees down with power lines down |
| September 2016 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $2,000 | The county Emergency Manager reported a rock slide on Bluff Road making it impassable, the time and exact location are estimated. |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $1,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down an electric pole at N 6th Street and Washington Street in Burlington, IA around 735 am August 4. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | $1,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew shopping carts across a parking lot in West Burlington, IA at 740 pm July 27. A parked car was damaged by one of the shopping carts. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $1,000 | Co-operative observer reported a section of a large tree down. |
| April 2001 | Lightning | Burlington | $1,000 | Lightning struck a house, setting it on fire, and damaging appliances. There were no injuries. |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $1,000 | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Lightning | West Burlington | $500 | Lightning struck a tree rupturing a gas line on the 400 block of Glasgow street in West Burlington around 12:22 pm May 15. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | $500 | Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew a covered front porch off of a mobile home in West Burlington, IA around 8:30 pm June 8. The roof of the porch was blown over the home into the backyard. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | $500 | Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew a 20 inch diameter tree down in West Burlington, IA at 8:45 pm June 8. The tree knocked down a street sign. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $500 | Tree branches were downed across the city. Time estimated. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $500 | Tree blown down on a power distribution line. Reported by emergency management. |
| February 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $500 | no account filed |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Wind equipement measured on the riverfront and Main Street. |
| April 2024 | Hail | West Burlington | - | Time of the report was estimated using radar. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | Five houses had holes in roofs from fallen tree branches. A storage facility had a partial roof collapsed, and a roof was peeled back on a tall outbuilding. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Several large tree branches were reported down, and some fell on power lines. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | Reports of widespread wind damage in the Burlington area. Limbs, powerlines, and trees down blocking residential streets, tree down on home. Time was estimated using radar data. |
| June 2023 | Hail | West Burlington | - | This report was received through Mping. |
| April 2023 | Flood | Burlington | - | The Mississippi River at Burlington rose above its major flood stage of 18.0 feet during the evening hours of April 26th. The river continues to rise to 19.68 feet on the evening of April 30th.|The Mississippi River at Gladstone rose above its major flood stage of 14 feet during the early morning hours of April 27th. It continued to rise to 15.6 feet during the evening hours of April 30th. |
| May 2023 | Funnel Cloud | West Burlington | - | Funnel clouds going up and down in the clouds occasionally, but never reached the ground. |
| July 2021 | Hail | West Burlington | - | Golf ball sized hail. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | The roof of a church was damaged. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | A wooden fence was partially damaged at Menards in West Burlington. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | A partial cinderblock wall collapsed at a small business on East Agency Road. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | A large tree limb was blown down at Notre Dame High School. |
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | West Burlington | - | The fire department reported water deep enough that vehicles could not pass through on Mt Pleasant street and West Burlington Avenue. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | A shed was blown down, and skirting blown off the edge of a mobile home. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | Several trees were blown down across a road. |
| November 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | Trained spotter estimated a wind gust of around 60 mph with the thunderstorm. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Burlington | - | An eight inch diameter tree branch was blown down at Lefflee and Wheeler St. intersection. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Burlington | - | Heavy rain and snow melt across the region caused the Mississippi River at Burlington to rise above major flood stage of 18.0 feet on March 17th, and remain above major flood stage through the end of the month. An initial crest of 20.50 feet occurred around mid day on the 24th through late in the day on the 26th. |
| May 2019 | Flood | Burlington | - | The Mississippi River at Burlington (BRLI4) began the month above its major flood stage of 18 feet and continued to see major flooding through the end of the month, with only one short period on the 17th, where it dipped back down to near 18 feet. The river stage at the beginning of the month was 20.4 feet. The river would rise to a crest of 23.54 feet on May 3rd. This crest is preliminary the 4th highest crest. The river rose to a even higher crest in early June. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Burlington | 2.6 miles | 17 | |
| Oak Hills | 3.8 miles | 17 | |
| Kemper | 4.4 miles | 14 | |
| Patterson | 4.9 miles | 17 | |
| Spring Grove | 5.3 miles | 17 | |
| Beaverdale | 5.7 miles | 17 | |
| Latty | 6.6 miles | 17 | |
| Skunk River | 7.3 miles | 17 |
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 Burlington | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q580182 | 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 454995. 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.