Meriden, Iowa
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Sheridan Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51037. The Survey maps it on the Cleghorn quadrangle. 161 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,411 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresMeriden grew from 159 to 161 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 | 159 | |
| 2020 | 161 | +2 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 9 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 Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Fort Dodge quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Cleghorn quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Storm Lake quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
14 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Meriden between 2009 and 2020, burning about 108 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 29 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 206 FALCON, IA |
| 12 September 2012 | Other causes | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 April 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 4808 HIGH COUNTRY RD, IA |
| 27 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 1 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 December 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 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
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Meriden: 8 past producers. None of them still produces. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corbett Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lundell Const | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Rohlfsen Gravel Co | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
22 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Meriden in 22 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 12 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood, 1 funnel cloud. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meriden | $200,000 | Thunderstorm winds destroyed the Maryhill Catholic Church, a structure which had stood since being rebuilt in 1905 after a lightning strike and fire. The winds also blew a hog shed 200 yards off its foundation, blew down or uprooted several large trees, and blew down power lines. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meriden | $30,000 | Thunderstorms winds removed a portion of the roof of a well-built machine shed. Property damage costs are a rough estimate. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meriden | - | Large trees were snapped and uprooted by thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meriden | - | Winds were measured by a personal weather station. |
| June 2014 | Flash Flood | Meriden | - | Heavy rain caused flash flooding of several ditches, small streams and creeks, sending water running over several roads. |
| May 2012 | Hail | Meriden | - | Hail was accompanied by an inch of rain which fell in 15 minutes. |
| June 2010 | Flash Flood | Meriden | - | Heavy rain caused flooding of most streets in the town of Cherokee. Some basements and yards were also flooded. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meriden | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Meriden | - | Heavy rainfall of 3 inches in a short time caused flooding of a park and several roads. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Meriden | - | Heavy rainfall of 4.5 inches fell in a short time. The heavy rain caused flooding of streets and ditches, and backing up of sewers. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| September 2010 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Funnel Cloud | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Hail | Meriden | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Meriden | - | 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 Meriden | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1928723 | 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 459003. 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.




