Lost Nation, Iowa
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Sharon Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52254. The Survey maps it on the Lost Nation quadrangle. 434 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 755 feet above sea level.
On record in Lost Nation
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
Sharon Methodist Episcopal Churchlisted 2003
Population over time
2 figuresLost Nation fell from 446 to 434 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 | 446 | |
| 2020 | 434 | -12 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 13 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.
- 1892 USGS Wheatland quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Wheatland quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1901 USGS Rock Island quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1910 USGS Rock Island quadrangle1:125000
- 1958 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Lost Nation quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
17 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Lost Nation between 2009 and 2018, burning about 58 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 burning | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 September 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 14 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 1431 160TH ST., LOST NATION, IOWA |
| 9 June 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 18 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 12 April 2017 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 March 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 March 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Lost Nation: 4 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Bloore Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Murray Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Wirth Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
11 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lost Nation in 11 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 2 flood, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2016 | Flood | Lost Nation | $100,000 | Heavy rainfall of 4 to over 10 inches over significant areas from 21 to 23 September in extreme North Central and Northeast Iowa moved downstream causing the Wapsipinicon River to rise above major flood stage levels. ||De Witt rose above its major flood stage level of 12.5 feet on September 29th, 2016 around 7 AM CST. It crested around 13.9 feet at approximately 4 PM CST on October 1st, 2016. It fell below major flood stage on October 5th around 5 PM CST.||Major flooding continued into October. |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lost Nation | $10,000 | An outbuilding was blown 5 feet off its foundation, breaking the frame and tilting it at a 30 degree angle. The one thing preventing total collapse was a tractor inside the building. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lost Nation | $6,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 70 to 80 mph blew down some trees in Lost Nation, IA at 656 pm CDT June 18. At least one of the trees landed on power lines. Part of the lumber yard's tin roof was peeled off. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lost Nation | - | Significant wind damage to farm buildings, trees, and farm equipment. Time estimated from radar data. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lost Nation | - | Damage to buildings. Time estimated from radar data. |
| May 2020 | Tornado (EF0) | Lost Nation | - | Photo and video evidence passed along by Emergency Management confirms an EF-0 tornado just southeast of of Lost Nation, IA. There was damage to a metal farm building. |Maximum winds are estimated around 85 mph. |
| October 2016 | Flood | Lost Nation | - | Heavy rainfall of 4 to over 10 inches over significant areas from 21 to 23 September in extreme North Central and Northeast Iowa moved downstream|causing the Wapsipinicon River to rise above major flood stage levels . The gage at De Witt 4 South, rose above its major flood stage level of 12.5 feet on September 29th, 2016 around 7 AM CST. It crested around 13.9 feet at approximately 4 PM|CST on October 1st, 2016. It fell below major flood stage on October 5th around 5 PM CST. For damage information please see September Storm Data. |
| April 2001 | Tornado (F0) | Lost Nation | - | A trained storm spotter reported a brief tornado touchdown. There were no injuries and no damage reported. |
| May 2001 | Hail | Lost Nation | - | Golfball sized hail reported by law enforcement. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lost Nation | - | Large tree limbs down. Reported by trained storm spotter. |
| April 1997 | Tornado (F0) | Lost Nation | - | 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.
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 Lost Nation | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q990860 | 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 458634. 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.








