BlockBefore

Essex, Iowa

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Pierce Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51638. It stands on Eightmile Branch. The Survey maps it on the Shenandoah East quadrangle. 722 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 991 feet above sea level.

Essex within Page County

On record in Essex

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

Population over time

2 figures

Essex fell from 798 to 722 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
2010798
2020722-76 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 8 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.

Fires near this place

6 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Essex between 2009 and 2018, burning about 118 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/undetermined5
Debris and open burning1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
17 August 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
21 May 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 May 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources57006 241ST ST., TECHNICAL SERVICES. SEC 18 GRANT
21 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 April 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources24656 SANDHILL TRAIL, SECTION #17, GRANT TOWNSHIP,
13 March 2018Debris and open burning100 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Page County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Essex: 2 producers, 2 past producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Essex PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Shenandoah PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Stanley Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Page County

Storms near this place

29 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Essex in 29 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 16 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flood. 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
June 2008FloodEssex$800,000Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches fell over much of southwest Iowa during the late afternoon and overnight hours of June 4th and 5th. The heavy rain caused the East Nishnabotna River to flood northwest Page county. The river at Red Oak, which is just upstream in Montgomery county, crested at 21.9 feet around 845 am CDT on June 5th. Flood stage is 18 feet. The river at Red Oak was above flood stage from around 115 am until 430 pm on June 5th. The flooding in Page county damaged crop land and levees along the river, flooded a park and some basements in Shenandoah and took out a county road and bridge. The flooding also prompted the evacuation of a mobile home park in Shenandoah.
April 2026HailEssex-Emergency management report of hail measured up to 1 inch in diameter in Essex, IA.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindEssex-The office received a public report of tree limbs blown down.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindEssex-Trained spotter measured a peak wind gust of 52 kts and reported power out in Essex.
March 2020HailEssex-A trained spotter reported 1.5 inch hail.
March 2020HailEssex-Trained Spotter reported 1.5 inch hail north of Essex.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindEssex-Public reported small limbs down near Essex.
April 2018HailEssex-Golf ball size hail reported at Essex.
June 2017HailEssex-A train storm spotter reported golf ball to tennis ball sized hail that cracked house siding and severely dented vehicles.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindEssex-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph downed large tree limbs in the area and were also accompanied by torrential rain.
March 2011HailEssex-Hail up to quarter-size fell for 2 minutes and covered the ground near Essex.
June 2010HailEssex-Emergency management reported that hail up to golf ball-size fell for 10 to 15 minutes in the Essex area. The hail for the most part came straight down with little if any wind.
July 2008HailEssex-Hail up to 1 inch in diameter fell in the Essex area for about 10 minutes. The hail caused scattered crop and vehicle damage in the area.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindEssex-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph snapped power poles in the area.
June 2008Tornado (EF0)Essex-A weak tornado caused damage to a barn, garage and other outbuildings on a farmstead southeast of Essex according to emergency management. Tree damage consistent with tornadoes was also noted in the area.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindEssex-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph blew down trees blocking a road in the area.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindEssex-Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 70 mph destroyed a barn and machine shed in Essex. The wind damage could have been caused by a brief touchdown of a weak tornado as Doppler Radar showed strong rotation in the area.
June 2000Tornado (F0)Essex-This small tornado was originally reported by a law enforcement official. The tornado was also caught on film by a storm chaser.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindEssex-Winds estimated at least 60 mph did unspecified damage and knocked electrical power out.
June 2017HailEssex-no account filed
April 2016HailEssex-no account filed
May 2016HailEssex-no account filed
June 2006HailEssex-no account filed
June 2006HailEssex-no account filed
June 2006HailEssex-no account filed
April 1999HailEssex-no account filed
April 1998HailEssex-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindEssex-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindEssex-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Page 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
Shenandoah5.8 miles8
Nyman6.4 miles8
Norwich6.9 miles10
Bingham6.9 miles10
Tarkio City (historical)9.2 miles12
Yorktown10.6 miles12
Bethesda11.1 miles8
Page Center12.6 miles12

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 EssexAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1932625The 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 456393. 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.