Lewis, Iowa
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Cass Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51544. It stands on Turkey Creek. The Survey maps it on the Lewis quadrangle. 357 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,181 feet above sea level.
On record in Lewis
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 2 records
Rev. George B. Hitchcock HouseNational Historic Landmark · listed 1977
Nishnabotna Ferry Houselisted 2001
Population over time
2 figuresLewis fell from 433 to 357 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 | 433 | |
| 2020 | 357 | -76 (-18%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 10 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.
- 1954 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1971 USGS Lewis quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Omaha quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
11 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Lewis between 2006 and 2017, burning about 145 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 | 8 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 June 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 May 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 April 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 20 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 15 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 19 March 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 540TH & LANSING RD, IA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Lewis: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Lewis Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
32 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lewis in 32 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 3 tornado, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | Tornado (EF2) | Lewis | $300,000 | Tornado developed northwest of Lewis and moved rapidly to the northeast. Damage occurred to several houses and trees along the path with mostly EF0 and EF1 ratings. Three high voltage steel towers were toppled providing the EF2 rating for this tornado. The tornado crossed Interstate 80 near milepost 59 blowing several semi onto their sides. The path was also observed in high resolution satellite imagery. This tornado then crossed into Audubon county. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $150,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Tornado (F1) | Lewis | $100,000 | Intermittent path through rural areas. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $100,000 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $50,000 | Emergency manager reported numerous power poles and branches down throughout town. Time estimated from radar, this was a delayed report. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $10,000 | The emergency manager reported lots of tree debris in the streets of town. |
| June 2010 | Hail | Lewis | $10,000 | Also getting 40 to 50 MPH winds, breaking tree limbs 3 to 4 inches in diameter. |
| May 1998 | Hail | Lewis | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Lewis | $7,000 | no account filed |
| May 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $5,000 | A small shed was blown over. |
| March 2012 | Hail | Lewis | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Lewis | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Lewis | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2008 | Hail | Lewis | $2,000 | no account filed |
| September 2008 | Hail | Lewis | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $2,000 | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Lewis | $2,000 | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Lewis | $1,000 | This weak tornado remained mostly in rural farmland but did impact some trees with minor damage. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $1,000 | Winds were estimated at 60 MPH with tree limb damage. |
| April 2008 | Hail | Lewis | $1,000 | A spotter reported nickel to quarter size hail in Lewis. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $1,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $1,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | $1,000 | no account filed |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | - | Power lines down in Lewis. Time estimated by radar. |
| April 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | - | Trained spotter reported wind gusts to 60 mph. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Lewis | - | The East Nishnabotna River at Atlantic crested at 19.19 feet on 14 March 2019 at 07:45 UTC. |
| August 2018 | Heavy Rain | Lewis | - | Mesonet station recorded heavy rainfall of 4.09 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lewis | - | Emergency manager reported broken tree branches and power outages. |
| June 2015 | Heavy Rain | Lewis | - | Mesonet reported heavy rainfall of 2.52 inches over the last 24 hours. Mesonet station 2 NEE Lewis ATCI4. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Lewis | - | no account filed |
| September 2008 | Hail | Lewis | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Lewis | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiantown (historical) | 1.4 miles | 10 | |
| Griswold | 5.7 miles | 9 | |
| Lyman | 7.4 miles | 9 | |
| Atlantic | 7.7 miles | 9 | |
| Sycamore Village | 8.3 miles | 9 | |
| Grove City (historical) | 8.5 miles | 9 | |
| Marne | 10.2 miles | 9 | |
| Cumberland | 11.5 miles | 9 |
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 Lewis | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1930350 | 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 458300. 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.




