Central City, Iowa
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Maine Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52214. The Survey maps it on the Central City quadrangle. 1,264 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 833 feet above sea level.
On record in Central City
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
Central City Commercial Historic Districtlisted 2003
Population over time
2 figuresCentral City grew from 1,257 to 1,264 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 | 1,257 | |
| 2020 | 1,264 | +7 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 15 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.
- 1888 USGS Marion quadrangle1:62500
- 1889 USGS Marion quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1903 USGS Winthrop quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1968 USGS Central City quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1976 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Anamosa quadrangle1:100000, 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 Central City between 2013 and 2017, burning about 62 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.5 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 April 2013 | Debris and open burning | 60 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Central City: 8 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central City Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Foy Estate | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Park Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Boddicker-Murray Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Edgerly Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Plower Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
17 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Central City in 17 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 10 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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 2017 | Tornado (EF2) | Central City | 1 hurt | The tornado touched down south of Central City in the county fairgrounds outfield area, and tracked about 12 miles northeast through Prairieburg before lifting in rural Jones County. The most intense damage occurred near and in Prairieburg. At a farmstead just southwest of town, a woman was injured when her garage collapsed on her. In Prairieburg, the grain elevator sustained severe damage, one mobile home was lofted and destroyed, and another mobile home severely damaged. On the east edge of town, a horse barn was destroyed. One horse was killed and two others sustained injuries. Northeast of town, a hog building was destroyed, killing several young hogs. This EF2 tornado continued into Jones County, Iowa. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $25,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew some tents over and damaged some carnival equipment at the Linn County Fairgrounds on the south side of Central City, IA at 555 pm CDT June 29. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $5,000 | Winds estimated to be 70 mph blew down several large maple trees and power lines. Time estimated. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | A large tree uprooted. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | Photo relayed of a large tree branch broken off. Time of the event was estimated using radar. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | A public report of a 7 inch diameter branch down. Time of the event was estimated using radar. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | A tree was blown down onto a house. |
| June 2019 | Tornado (EFU) | Central City | - | A weak landspout tornado moved through rural areas northeast and east of Central City, IA. Evidence for the tornado is through photo and video, but no damage was observed along its path to assign a rating. |
| June 2013 | Flash Flood | Central City | - | The Emergency Manager for Linn County reported street flooding in Central City as well as major flash flooding occurring in Walker. Rainfall amounts in Linn County ranged from 1.02 inches at Coggon to 2.50 inches 1 mile south-southeast of Cedar Rapids. |
| April 2010 | Hail | Central City | - | Quarter sized hail fell in Central City, IA at 641 pm April 5. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | Winds estimated to be 65 mph blew down some trees across streets making them impassible.| |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | Corn field flattened. Reported by National Weather Service cooperative observer. |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | Numerous trees and branches down. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| July 2020 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers | 2.9 miles | 15 | |
| Jordans Grove | 3.6 miles | 14 | |
| Paris | 3.8 miles | 15 | |
| Waubeek | 4.1 miles | 14 | |
| Paris (historical) | 4.1 miles | 14 | |
| Coggon | 5.3 miles | 10 | |
| Prairieburg | 5.9 miles | 14 | |
| Alburnett | 6.3 miles | 15 |
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 Central City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1944988 | 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 455313. 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.








