Chapin, Iowa
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Ross Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50475. It stands on Buffalo Creek. The Survey maps it on the Hampton North quadrangle. 71 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,155 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresChapin fell from 87 to 71 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 | 87 | |
| 2020 | 71 | -16 (-18%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 9 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.
- 1954 USGS Waterloo quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Waterloo quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1972 USGS Hampton North quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Iowa Falls quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
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 Chapin: 6 past producers, 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapin Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Sheffield Clay Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Clay | Unknown | ||
| Harold Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
14 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chapin in 14 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 6 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | Tornado (EF1) | Chapin | $100,000 | This tornado produced EF1 damage on the east side of Sheffield nearly destroying a business outbuilding. The track farther to the southwest was found in high resolution satellite imagery and also confirmed through a private weather station which recorded a wind gust to 108 mph as the tornado passed its location. |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapin | $30,000 | The Franklin County Emergency Manager reported 18 to 24 inch diameter trees snapped off at the base in and near the town of Chapin. Power lines were also down in the town of Chapin. Some outbuildings and grain bins were also damaged outside of town. Two large trees were on a house at 230th street. |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapin | $15,000 | Iowa DOT reported three semis blown over by strong winds on I-35 near milepost 174. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapin | $10,000 | Extensive tree damage was reported near Chapin. |
| May 1996 | Hail | Chapin | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Chapin | $5,000 | Quarter to half dollar size hail. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Chapin | $5,000 | Trained spotter reported half dollar size hail at the intersection of C13 and S34. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapin | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 1995 | Hail | Chapin | $1,000 | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Hail | Chapin | - | Delayed report of ping pong ball to quarter sized hail. |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapin | - | Trained spotter reported nickel sized hail along with estimated wind gusts to 60 mph. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chapin | - | Emergency manager reported 4 to 5 inch diameter trees blown half way to the ground. |
| July 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Chapin | - | Trained spotter reports a tornado between Meservey and Latimer heading southeast. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Chapin | - | 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.
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 Chapin | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3729405 | 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 455347. 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.
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.



