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.
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
Iowan's Hotellisted 2009
Population over time
2 figuresEssex 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 798 | |
| 2020 | 722 | -76 (-10%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 8 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.
- 1955 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS Shenandoah East quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
6 since 2009Regional 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/undetermined | 5 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 August 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 May 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 19 May 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 57006 241ST ST., TECHNICAL SERVICES. SEC 18 GRANT |
| 21 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 15 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 24656 SANDHILL TRAIL, SECTION #17, GRANT TOWNSHIP, |
| 13 March 2018 | Debris and open burning | 100 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Shenandoah Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Stanley Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
29 since 1996Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2008 | Flood | Essex | $800,000 | Rainfall 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 2026 | Hail | Essex | - | Emergency management report of hail measured up to 1 inch in diameter in Essex, IA. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | The office received a public report of tree limbs blown down. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | Trained spotter measured a peak wind gust of 52 kts and reported power out in Essex. |
| March 2020 | Hail | Essex | - | A trained spotter reported 1.5 inch hail. |
| March 2020 | Hail | Essex | - | Trained Spotter reported 1.5 inch hail north of Essex. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | Public reported small limbs down near Essex. |
| April 2018 | Hail | Essex | - | Golf ball size hail reported at Essex. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Essex | - | A train storm spotter reported golf ball to tennis ball sized hail that cracked house siding and severely dented vehicles. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph downed large tree limbs in the area and were also accompanied by torrential rain. |
| March 2011 | Hail | Essex | - | Hail up to quarter-size fell for 2 minutes and covered the ground near Essex. |
| June 2010 | Hail | Essex | - | 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 2008 | Hail | Essex | - | 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 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph snapped power poles in the area. |
| June 2008 | Tornado (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 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph blew down trees blocking a road in the area. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | 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 2000 | Tornado (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 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | Winds estimated at least 60 mph did unspecified damage and knocked electrical power out. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
| April 1999 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
| April 1998 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shenandoah | 5.8 miles | 8 | |
| Nyman | 6.4 miles | 8 | |
| Norwich | 6.9 miles | 10 | |
| Bingham | 6.9 miles | 10 | |
| Tarkio City (historical) | 9.2 miles | 12 | |
| Yorktown | 10.6 miles | 12 | |
| Bethesda | 11.1 miles | 8 | |
| Page Center | 12.6 miles | 12 |
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 Essex | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1932625 | 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 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.





