Martinsburg, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1982. It stands in Steady Run Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52563. The Survey maps it on the Hedrick quadrangle. 110 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 804 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresMartinsburg fell from 112 to 110 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 | 112 | |
| 2020 | 110 | -2 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 8 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 Des Moines quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Ottumwa North quadrangle1:62500
- 1957 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Hedrick quadrangle1:24000
- 1982 USGS Oskaloosa quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
8 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Martinsburg between 2010 and 2017, burning about 358 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 | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 June 2017 | Debris and open burning | 40 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 April 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 165TH ST., IA |
| 11 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 31 March 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 202ND AVE & 149 HIGHWAY, IOWA |
| 18 March 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 18 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | 150 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 17 February 2017 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Martinsburg: 1 past producer. None of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Martinsburg in 8 storm reports between 2008 and 2026: 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 hail. The reports record 2 deaths and 1 injury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2014 | Tornado (EF1) | Martinsburg | 2 killed | NWS storm survey teams determined that a tornado developed in far northern Wapello County, crossed Keokuk County and southeastern Iowa County, and ended in rural southwest Johnson County. This entry is for the portion of the tornado that affected Keokuk County. ||This long track tornado started east of Highland Center and traveled at about 60 mph to the northeast. The circulation was initially very broad and began to tighten as it progressed to the northeast. The tornado moved into Keokuk County at around 323 pm CDT (223 pm CST). It then created a near-continuous damage path across Keokuk County, with damage primarily to outbuildings, trees, and power poles. In Martinsburg, a tied-down mobile home was also pushed to the north off its block base. Two fatalities occurred, one west of Martinsburg and on north of Kinross. Both fatalities were associated with people who were outdoors and caught in debris from outbuildings that were destroyed. ||The tornado was on the ground for about 30 miles across Keokuk County. It exited Keokuk County at about 352 pm and moved into Iowa County near the junction of the Keokuk-Iowa-Washington county lines. |
| April 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Martinsburg | 1 hurt | The Emergency Manager reported that a barn was blown down. Time of the event was estimated by radar. |
| April 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Martinsburg | $40,000 | Four power poles were snapped between Martinsburg and Hedrick on Highway 149. Delayed report. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Martinsburg | - | This report was received from MPING. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Martinsburg | - | Public report of hail relayed by broadcast media. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Martinsburg | - | A Law Enforcement Officer reported down tree limbs. |
| March 2023 | Tornado (EF3) | Martinsburg | - | A large violent tornado developed in Wapello County (see NWS Des Moines Storm Data) and tracked into Keokuk County about 1 mile southeast of Martinsburg on Wapello-Keokuk Road. The tornado continued to the northeast before lifting just north of Highway 92, southwest of Keota. The tornado produced EF-3 damage to a house northeast of Martinsburg, and caused additional significant damage to farmsteads and outbuildings. The tornado was on the ground in Keokuk County for about 17 miles, with a maximum width of 1000 yards and peak estimated winds of 150 MPH. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Martinsburg | - | Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down a few three inch diameter tree branches in Martinsburg, IA around 635 am June 22. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hedrick | 3.0 miles | 8 | |
| Nugent | 3.8 miles | 7 | |
| Hayesville | 5.9 miles | 7 | |
| Ioka (historical) | 6.5 miles | 7 | |
| Lanscaster | 8.1 miles | 7 | |
| Ollie | 8.6 miles | 7 | |
| Delta | 10.8 miles | 7 | |
| Sigourney | 10.9 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 Martinsburg | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1929803 | 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 458833. 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.






