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Jamaica, Iowa

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Richland Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50128. The Survey maps it on the Yale quadrangle. 195 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,033 feet above sea level.

Jamaica within Guthrie County

On record in Jamaica

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

Jamaica fell from 224 to 195 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
2010224
2020195-29 (-13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 10 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 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Jamaica between 2008 and 2012, burning about 46 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/undetermined4
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
20 September 2012Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
25 March 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined40 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
23 February 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
26 November 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural ResourcesHWY 4 AND HWY 141, IOWA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Guthrie 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 Jamaica: 4 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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
UnknownClayPast Producer
Davis PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Goodale PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Guthrie County

Storms near this place

39 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Jamaica in 39 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 13 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 10 heavy rain, 4 flash 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
July 2008Thunderstorm WindJamaica$150,000Significant tree damage in town with 50 percent of the trees damaged. Thirty trees were down, two sheds had roof damage and the county mobile EOC was tossed 150 feet into the field.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindJamaica$75,000Three to four foot diameter trees were down with roads impassable. A travel trailer was blown approximately 150 feet.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindJamaica$50,000no account filed
May 2011Thunderstorm WindJamaica$20,000Grain bin and shed damaged by straight line winds with estimated gusts near 70 MPH along Wood Road.
June 2008Flash FloodJamaica$20,000Water was over 140th St just east of Wood Road.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindJamaica$10,000The emergency manager reported a large 2 foot diameter tree down in Yale and several large branches down in Jamaica. One large branch fell on a truck with minor damage.
June 2015Flash FloodJamaica$10,000Emergency Manager reported flooding within the town of Jamaica.
April 2009Flash FloodJamaica$10,000Water was reported over the roads.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindJamaica$10,000A 4 inch flag pole was bent by the wind. Power was reported out as well.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindJamaica$10,000A power pole was partially blown over.
May 2004HailJamaica$5,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindJamaica$5,000no account filed
July 1999HailJamaica$5,000no account filed
May 2014Thunderstorm WindJamaica$3,000A large tree was snapped.
June 2008HailJamaica$3,000Nickel to quarter size hail occurring.
May 2004HailJamaica$3,000no account filed
June 2008HailJamaica$2,000no account filed
June 2004Thunderstorm WindJamaica$2,000no account filed
June 2000HailJamaica$1,000no account filed
April 1999HailJamaica$1,000no account filed
September 2025HailJamaica-Quarter sized hail reported by former NWS employee.
July 2024HailJamaica-Quarter sized hail and winds estimated 30 to 40 mph.
May 2023HailJamaica-Dime to nickel sized hail.
April 2022Flash FloodJamaica-Several streets closed in Jamaica and Bagley due to surface flooding. Relayed by the Emergency Manager.
August 2019Heavy RainJamaica-NWS employee recorded heavy rainfall of 2.29 inches over the last 24 hours.
May 2018HailJamaica-NWS employee reported up to penny size hail lasting about 15 to 30 seconds.
June 2018Heavy RainJamaica-CoCoRaHS observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.58 inches over the last 24 hours.
August 2018Heavy RainJamaica-CoCoRaHS observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.01 inches over the last 24 hours.
August 2018Heavy RainJamaica-Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.01 inches over the last 24 hours.
May 2017Heavy RainJamaica-Public reported heavy rainfall of 2.00 inches via social media.
October 2017Heavy RainJamaica-Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 3.50 inches.
June 2015HailJamaica-Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail at his home.
June 2015Heavy RainJamaica-NWS employee reported 6.08 inches of rain since 7am Wednesday.
December 2015Heavy RainJamaica-NWS Employee reported heavy rainfall of 3.78 inches over the last 48 hours/storm total so far.
October 2014Heavy RainJamaica-Rainfall of 2.04 inches in the past 24 hours.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindJamaica-Short lived miso-vortex produced crop damage south of Jamaica. Damage was found and documented using high resolution satellite imagery.
April 2009Heavy RainJamaica-Rainfall of 4.66 inches in past 25 hours.
May 2008HailJamaica-Hail was also accompanied by strong winds.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindJamaica-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Guthrie 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
Herndon2.1 miles10
Yale5.4 miles10
Bagley6.4 miles10
Fanslers10.2 miles11
Lake Panorama10.3 miles11
Panora11.0 miles11
Bayard13.2 miles9
Guthrie Center15.5 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 JamaicaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1913470The 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 457909. 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.