Little Rock, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Elgin Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51243. The Survey maps it on the Little Rock quadrangle. 439 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,490 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresLittle Rock fell from 459 to 439 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 | 459 | |
| 2020 | 439 | -20 (-4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 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 Fairmont quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Fairmont quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Little Rock quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Iowa Great Lakes quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
4 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Little Rock between 2010 and 2016, burning about 8 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 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| 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 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 November 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | CUSHING FIRE AND RESCUE |
| 6 October 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | SEC 7 OF GRANT TWP. FIELD DIRECTLY NE OF CORNERSTO |
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Little Rock: 6 past producers, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eben Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Heintbrink | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Little Rock Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Maudlin Little Rock | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Voss Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
39 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Little Rock in 39 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 22 hail, 14 thunderstorm wind, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2010 | Tornado (EF2) | Little Rock | $500,000 | A tornado destroyed two hog confinement buildings, killing about 12 hogs, numerous outbuildings, a metal farm building, tore the roof off a house and damaged at least 6 other houses, and caused damage to other farm buildings, power lines, vehicles, and trees, before moving out of Lyon County and into Osceola County. |
| June 1996 | Hail | Little Rock | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Little Rock | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Little Rock | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Tornado (EF1) | Little Rock | $20,000 | A tornado destroyed a garage, and caused an unknown amount of crop damage. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including large branches and a few trees blown down. Some trees and branches fell on homes and in yards, and some roads were blocked. The winds were accompanied by small hail. There was crop damage from the winds and hail in the area, but the amount of crop damage was not known. |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | $100 | Thunderstorm winds blew down two- to three-inch diameter tree limbs. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | A cattle barn was significantly damaged by thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | Several trees were downed by thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts downed up to 10 inch diameter tree limbs and damaged power lines. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | Visibility was near zero due to strong winds and dust for around 10 minutes. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | Trees downed at intersection of Highway 9 and Log Avenue. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | Four inch diameter tree branches were downed. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several large trees blown down. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including up to 3 inch diameter branches blown down. |
| May 2012 | Heavy Rain | Little Rock | - | Rainfall was measured at 2.92 inches. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including large branches blown down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including a two foot diameter tree blown down. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Little Rock | - | Large hail covered the ground. |
| July 2000 | Hail | Little Rock | - | Large hail damaged vehicles, windows, and crops, but the amount of damage was not determined. The hail fell over most of the southern and eastern parts of Lyon County. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| August 2021 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| September 2008 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| September 2008 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Little Rock | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Little Rock | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| George | 9.4 miles | 8 | |
| Midland | 11.7 miles | 7 | |
| Edna | 11.9 miles | 7 | |
| Rock Rapids | 15.5 miles | 7 | |
| Lakewood (historical) | 16.3 miles | 7 | |
| Lakewood Corner | 16.9 miles | 7 | |
| Doon | 21.7 miles | 7 | |
| Alvord | 23.2 miles | 7 |
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 Little Rock | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1930402 | 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 458498. 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.



