Ely, Iowa
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Putnam Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52227. It stands on South Hoosier Creek. The Survey maps it on the Ely quadrangle. 2,328 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 738 feet above sea level.
On record in Ely
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 7 records
Dows Street Historic Districtlisted 2003
Ely School Houselisted 2006
Jan F. and Antonie Janko Farmstead Districtlisted 2000
Josias L. and Elizabeth A. Minor Farmstead Districtlisted 2000
Joseph and Clara Amanda H. Moorhead Houselisted 2000
Podhajsky-Jansa Farmstead Districtlisted 2000- Klinsky Farmstead Historic Districtlisted 2025
Population over time
2 figuresEly grew from 1,776 to 2,328 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 | 1,776 | |
| 2020 | 2,328 | +552 (+31%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 16 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.
- 1887 USGS Cedar Rapids quadrangle1:62500
- 1891 USGS Cedar Rapids quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1903 USGS Fairfax quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS Ely quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1984 USGS Iowa City quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1994 USGS Ely quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
38 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 38 fires within 5 miles of Ely between 2006 and 2020, burning about 143 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 | 21 |
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 August 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 25 August 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 19 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 15 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Ely: 5 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Zinc, Iron. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Marietta Quarry | Zinc, Iron | Past Producer | Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| Schultz Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Cedar Rapids Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Hartl Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
17 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ely in 17 storm reports between 2000 and 2024: 8 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 flash flood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2008 | Flash Flood | Ely | $15,000 | Heavy rains caused flash flooding in Springville, IA, and Ely, IA during the evening of July 2. In addition, Hart Road, which is about 5 miles south southeast of Prairieburg, was washed out as a result of the flooding rains. |
| June 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Ely | - | A non-supercell, or landspout tornado touched down in a field about 2 miles north of Ely in Linn County Iowa Tuesday evening. The tornado caused crop damage and moved very slowly to the southeast. The tornado then snapped large tree limbs along Ivanhoe Road, and damaged a power pole cross member. The tornado also lifted some loose asphalt and tossed it a short distance away. The tornado then moved through a grove of trees before lifting in a field. The tornado was rated EF0, with maximum winds estimated around 85 mph. The path width was estimated around 50 yards and the tornado was on the ground for 10 to 15 minutes. |
| January 2023 | Tornado (EFU) | Ely | - | A storm chaser reported a brief tornado. There was no observable damage to assign a rating on the EF scale. |
| March 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ely | - | A trained spotter measured a 52 knot wind gust. |
| May 2019 | Flash Flood | Ely | - | Significant water running over Vista Road in Ely. |
| April 2017 | Hail | Ely | - | A trained spotter reported quarter size hail that lasted for 3 to 4 minutes. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ely | - | Local broadcast media reported a swath of trees was blown down in Paris. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ely | - | A public report was received of large tree limbs down over a car via KCRG Facebook page. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ely | - | Measured wind gust from an Iowa Mesonet site southeast of Cedar Rapids. |
| April 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ely | - | Trees were reported down near Ely by the Linn county emergency manager. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ely | - | A public report estimated thunderstorm wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph. Heavy rain was helping to reduce visibility. |
| August 2007 | Hail | Ely | - | Hail the size of a penny fell near Ely, IA. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ely | - | Trees down. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ely | - | Power lines blown down. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Ely | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Ely | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Ely | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western | 3.1 miles | 14 | |
| Summit | 4.1 miles | 16 | |
| Worthington Acres | 4.5 miles | 16 | |
| Kirkwood Estates | 4.9 miles | 16 | |
| Lincolnway Village | 5.4 miles | 16 | |
| Otis | 5.7 miles | 15 | |
| Perrys Rollin' Homes Manor | 5.8 miles | 16 | |
| Konigsmark | 5.8 miles | 16 |
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 Ely | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1144361 | 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 456356. 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.








