BlockBefore

Germantown, Iowa

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Caledonia Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51046. The Survey maps it on the Granville East quadrangle. It stands 1,427 feet above sea level.

Germantown within O'Brien County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 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.

Fires near this place

5 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Germantown between 2009 and 2020, burning about 31 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
Debris and open burning3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2

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
7 April 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
23 April 2020Debris and open burning10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
17 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
10 April 2014Debris and open burning10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 October 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in O'Brien County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Germantown: 5 past producers. None of them still produces. 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
MertensSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
V McKinneySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in O'Brien County

Storms near this place

18 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Germantown in 18 storm reports between 1999 and 2026: 12 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 1 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
June 2024FloodGermantown$2,250,000Rainfall amounts across O'Brien County from June 20-22 ranged from 5 to 9 inches, with the highest amounts across the northern half of the county. Widespread overland flooding ensued with additional minor to major flooding along the Floyd and Little Floyd Rivers, and Waterman Creek. ||County-wide, there were five water rescues during peak flooding, involving 18 individuals. An estimated 700 to 1,000 homes were impacted by flood waters with a majority of the residential property damage reported in Hartley and Sheldon. Some homes became islands and required residents to shelter in place until the water receded, while at least two homes needed to be evacuated. An apartment complex in Hartley was also impacted by flood waters.||Numerous county roads were damaged by flood waters with extensive washouts in four different locations. In addition, 12 bridges and 6 culverts were damaged. A water main was damaged west of Sheldon along with lift stations within city limits. Osceola Rural Water was impacted due to a water breach at the well building. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure to be 2.25 million dollars.||The majority of overland flooding subsided by June 25, but river flooding continued through the end of the month. For additional information on river flooding, please see other flood entries for O'Brien County.
March 2019FloodGermantown$590,000Flooding resulted in extensive damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges.
June 2010Tornado (EF1)Germantown$20,000A tornado damaged the roof of a home and tore the chimney off, and destroyed a machine shed on the same property. The tornado also blew down several trees and blew a trampoline into a tree. The tornado also caused an unknown amount of crop damage.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindGermantown$1,000Thunderstorm winds damaged a roof.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGermantown-Numerous large tree limbs were taken down by thunderstorm winds.
July 2012HailGermantown-Large hail caused an unknown amount of damage to vehicles and crops.
April 2026HailGermantown-no account filed
April 2024HailGermantown-no account filed
March 2017HailGermantown-no account filed
May 2016HailGermantown-no account filed
July 2012HailGermantown-no account filed
July 2012HailGermantown-no account filed
September 2012HailGermantown-no account filed
June 2004HailGermantown-no account filed
April 2002Thunderstorm WindGermantown-no account filed
June 2001HailGermantown-no account filed
August 2000HailGermantown-no account filed
June 1999HailGermantown-no account filed

Every storm recorded in O'Brien 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
Paullina5.2 miles9
Philby8.1 miles7
Mapleside9.0 miles7
Archer11.3 miles7
Gaza11.6 miles7
Calumet12.2 miles9
Primghar12.3 miles7
Sutherland15.1 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 GermantownAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q17019631The 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 456886. 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.