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Mediapolis, Iowa

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Mediapolis City. It lies in ZIP code area 52637. The Survey maps it on the Mediapolis quadrangle. 1,688 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 771 feet above sea level.

Mediapolis within Des Moines County

On record in Mediapolis

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

Mediapolis grew from 1,560 to 1,688 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
20101,560
20201,688+128 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

8 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Mediapolis between 2006 and 2018, burning about 96 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 burning4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4

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
23 April 2018Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 March 2018Debris and open burning10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 March 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
3 March 2018Debris and open burning70 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 March 2018Debris and open burning12 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 March 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 February 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
21 November 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural ResourcesFIELD W AND S OF 17901 , IA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Des Moines 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 Mediapolis: 2 producers, 2 past producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gypsum-Anhydrite, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension. 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
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Sperry Mine and MillGypsum-AnhydriteProducer
Us Gypsum Mine & PlantGypsum-AnhydriteProducer

Every working recorded in Des Moines County

Storms near this place

31 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mediapolis in 31 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 18 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 2 heavy rain, 1 lightning. 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 2003Heavy RainMediapolis$10,000Considerable street flooding. Fell in 30 minutes
July 1997LightningMediapolis$10,000Lightning was the cause of an attic fire in a family home. The children in the home, looking out the window, reported seeing a "fireball" next door. The parents heard a terrible crash, then discovered the fire. The fire was put out quickly by the homeowner. Besides some fire and water damage in the attic, one wall outlet, a cordless phone, and an air conditioner were damaged.
August 1995Thunderstorm WindMediapolis$10,000no account filed
October 2004Thunderstorm WindMediapolis$1,0008 inch diameter solid pine tree downed.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindMediapolis$500Trees were downed and roof shingles were ripped off.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindMediapolis$500A tree branch 8 inches in diameter was blown down covering part of the road between Orchard and Harrison streets.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-Estimated wind speed, with lawn furniture being thrown around.
March 2023Tornado (EF2)Mediapolis-A brief tornado tracked east across the southern portions of the town of Mediapolis, destroying siding and shingles on a few homes and businesses. Numerous large tree limbs fell on mobile homes and frame houses, damaging roofs and siding. In the middle of town, at it's peak strength, the tornado widened to 150 yards and produced EF2 damage at a home, where it removed the entire roof, and snapped a few large trees off just above the ground. The tornado dissipated quickly on the east side of town. The peak winds are estimated to be 120 mph with this tornado.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-Numerous tree branches were blown down all over town.
November 2020Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-The EM passed along a public report of an uprooted tree in the Mediapolis/Kossuth area along with several downed tree limbs in the area. The time of the event was estimated using radar.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-Trees were uprooted along with large limbs blown down. Tree limbs fell onto a roof of a house.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-Significant tree and limb damage throughout the town of Mediapolis. Power is out.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-Several reports of large trees damaged with branches down and a leaning power pole.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-A member of the public reported 2 large tree branches down. The time of the event was estimated using radar.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-A spotter estimated winds of 60 mph.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-A residential swing set was damaged.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-Twelve inch diameter trees were blown down on north side of town, power was also reported out.
May 2014HailMediapolis-Golf ball sized hail fell 1 mile north of Mediapolis, IA at 531 pm CDT May 11.
June 2012HailMediapolis-Quarter sized hail fell in Mediapolis, IA at 816 pm CDT June 29.
September 2012Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew a large tree limb down in Mediapolis, IA around 450 am CDT September 5.
March 2011Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-A trained spotter near Mediapolis estimated a wind gust of 60 mph.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-Wind gusts measured to be 63 mph were observed in Mediapolis, IA at 508 pm CDT June 23. South of town winds were even stronger, unroofing a barn and throwing the roof through a nearby garage. A grain bin just southeast of town was damaged.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindMediapolis-Wind gusts were estimated to be 60 mph in Mediapolis, IA around 520 pm June 19.
September 2008Flash FloodMediapolis-Heavy rains caused flash flooding of a few parts of Des Moines County during the morning of September 13.||In Burlington, a 60 foot tall tree fell over in Crapo Park due to the ground being so saturated with flood waters. Also, about 20 loose railroad ties were carried down the 700 block of Jefferson Street by flood waters about 2 feet deep forcing its closure for a time.||A water rescue was performed on two motorists who drove a Jeep into flood waters near Flint Creek in Burlington and West Burlington.||North of Mediapolis, portions of Highway 61 were under water.
March 2006HailMediapolis-just east of the city; also estimated 50 mph winds
October 2004Heavy RainMediapolis-1.1 inches in 35 minutes.
May 2023HailMediapolis-no account filed
April 2015HailMediapolis-no account filed
May 2014HailMediapolis-no account filed
May 2007HailMediapolis-no account filed
April 1996HailMediapolis-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Des Moines 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
Kossuth1.6 miles11
Sperry3.5 miles17
Northfield4.2 miles11
Garland4.5 miles11
Dodgeville4.6 miles17
Roscoe5.2 miles7
Kline6.4 miles17
Kingston6.9 miles17

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 MediapolisAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1928282The 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 458946. 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.