Holy Cross, Iowa
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Concord Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52053. The Survey maps it on the Holy Cross quadrangle. 356 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,211 feet above sea level.
On record in Holy Cross
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
Western Hotellisted 1976
Population over time
2 figuresHoly Cross fell from 374 to 356 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 | 374 | |
| 2020 | 356 | -18 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 15 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.
- 1900 USGS Lancaster quadrangle1:125000
- 1904 USGS Lancaster quadrangle1:125000
- 1908 USGS Lancaster quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1957 USGS Holy Cross quadrangle1:24000
- 1959 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1976 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Dubuque North quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Holy Cross between 2009 and 2018, burning about 56 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 | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 20 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Holy Cross: 5 past producers, 1 producer, 1 unknown. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Zinc, Lead, Lead, Zinc. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fitzpatrick Mine | Zinc, Lead | Unknown | Sphalerite | |
| Fitzpatrick Mine | Lead, Zinc | Past Producer | Galena, Sphalerite | |
| Fitzpatrick Mine | Zinc, Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Hermsen Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Schmidt Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Wpa Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
14 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Holy Cross in 14 storm reports between 2000 and 2024: 6 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 heavy rain. 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 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Holy Cross | $100,000 | On US Highway 52 between Holy Cross and Rickardsville, numerous trees were uprooted and some farm outbuildings were damaged. The roof and doors were torn from an implement dealer. Three trees at a residence across the street were also blown down, with one of the trees landing on the house. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Holy Cross | $15,000 | Approximately 40 percent of the roof from a historic church was removed. Significant water damage occurred inside since 1.5 inches of rain fell within 15 minutes. Several trees were downed with one falling on top of a car. |
| May 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Holy Cross | $1,000 | A tornado traveled through some fields, damaged some farm equipment, and downed trees. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Holy Cross | - | The Emergency Manager reported a measured wind gust of 70 MPH. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Holy Cross | - | The Emergency Manager reported a measured thunderstorm wind gust of 97 MPH. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Holy Cross | - | The county emergency manager reported a measured wind gust of 68 knots. |
| July 2017 | Hail | Holy Cross | - | Report of hail up to the size of 1 inch in diameter was received from the county emergency manager. |
| July 2017 | Hail | Holy Cross | - | A report of hail up to the size of 1.25 inches in diameter was received from the county emergency manager. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Holy Cross | - | A roof reported blown off school building. |
| July 2011 | Heavy Rain | Holy Cross | - | At 817 am CDT July 28, the rainfall total in Holy Cross, IA was 7.50 inches. This report was relayed by a media partner. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Holy Cross | - | Golf ball-sized hail fell 1 mile north of Holy Cross, IA at 802 pm July 10. |
| April 2019 | Hail | Holy Cross | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Holy Cross | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Holy Cross | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luxemburg | 4.2 miles | 12 | |
| Cottage Hill | 4.5 miles | 15 | |
| O'Neill | 5.8 miles | 15 | |
| Bankston | 5.9 miles | 15 | |
| Rickardsville | 6.0 miles | 15 | |
| Balltown | 7.2 miles | 16 | |
| New Vienna | 7.3 miles | 12 | |
| East Rickardsville | 7.5 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 Holy Cross | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1932101 | 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 457572. 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.








