BlockBefore

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.

Chapin within Franklin County

Population over time

2 figures

Chapin 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.

YearPeople Change
201087
202071-16 (-18%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 9 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Chapin QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Sheffield Clay PitClayProducer
UnknownClayUnknown
Harold PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Franklin County

Storms near this place

14 since 1995

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2021Tornado (EF1)Chapin$100,000This 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 2013Thunderstorm WindChapin$30,000The 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 2025Thunderstorm WindChapin$15,000Iowa DOT reported three semis blown over by strong winds on I-35 near milepost 174.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindChapin$10,000Extensive tree damage was reported near Chapin.
May 1996HailChapin$10,000no account filed
June 2010HailChapin$5,000Quarter to half dollar size hail.
July 2010HailChapin$5,000Trained spotter reported half dollar size hail at the intersection of C13 and S34.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindChapin$3,000no account filed
May 1995HailChapin$1,000no account filed
August 2023HailChapin-Delayed report of ping pong ball to quarter sized hail.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindChapin-Trained spotter reported nickel sized hail along with estimated wind gusts to 60 mph.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindChapin-Emergency manager reported 4 to 5 inch diameter trees blown half way to the ground.
July 2010Tornado (EF0)Chapin-Trained spotter reports a tornado between Meservey and Latimer heading southeast.
July 2013HailChapin-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Franklin County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Sheffield4.1 miles9
Hampton6.4 miles9
Washington6.5 miles9
Hansell8.2 miles9
Latimer9.1 miles9
Coulter10.3 miles9
Reeve11.3 miles9
Geneva12.0 miles9

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 ChapinAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3729405The 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.