Monroe, Iowa
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Fairview Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50170. The Survey maps it on the Monroe quadrangle. 1,967 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 925 feet above sea level.
On record in Monroe
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
Red Bridgelisted 1998
Population over time
2 figuresMonroe grew from 1,830 to 1,967 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 | 1,830 | |
| 2020 | 1,967 | +137 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 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 Des Moines quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Monroe quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1969 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
2 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Monroe between 2006 and 2016, burning about 1 acre 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 | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 March 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | NORTH ENGLISH BENEFITTED FIRE |
| 11 February 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
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 Monroe: 5 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Flagstone, Clay, Iron. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orcutt Brick Plant | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Red Ocher Quarry | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Stony Point Quarry | Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| Van Wyngarden Sandstone Quarry | Flagstone | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
41 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Monroe in 41 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 21 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud, 2 tornado. The reports record 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 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Monroe | 1 hurt, $250,000 | Jasper County EMA reported a path of damage starting just east of Monroe impacting several rural homesteads. Much of the damage was to trees and outbuildings with a few smaller sheds being destroyed. Otherwise, the bulk of the path was across rural farmland between Monroe and Reasnor in southern Jasper County. |
| August 2013 | Hail | Monroe | $100,000 | no account filed |
| March 2010 | Lightning | Monroe | $50,000 | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Monroe | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Monroe | $20,000 | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $15,000 | High winds downed several trees. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $15,000 | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Hail | Monroe | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Monroe | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Monroe | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Tornado (EF0) | Monroe | $8,000 | Tornado developed east of Monroe and tracked southeast for entire path. Damage was mainly to trees and crops although a machine shed lost a small part of its roof near the start of the tornado. There was impressive flattening of crops near the county line where path widened to 500 yards. Tornado crossed from Jasper into Marion county. |
| October 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $5,000 | Six to seven inch diameter branches were blown down by 60 to 70 MPH winds. |
| July 2003 | Hail | Monroe | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Monroe | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Monroe | $3,000 | no account filed |
| August 2013 | Hail | Monroe | $3,000 | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Hail | Monroe | $3,000 | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Hail | Monroe | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $2,000 | Winds gust estimated 58 to 65 MPH with several tree limbs down. Moved heavy patio furniture 3 to 5 feet. |
| October 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $2,000 | A large tree was taken down on Highway F70 about a quarter mile west of town. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Monroe | $2,000 | no account filed |
| March 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | $1,000 | no account filed |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | - | Trained spotter estimated wind gust of 60 mph. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Monroe | - | Report via social media. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Monroe | - | Report of 1 inch hail, along with estimated winds of 70 mph. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Monroe | - | Hail up to golf ball sized. |
| August 2021 | Funnel Cloud | Monroe | - | KCCI viewer shared a picture looking south from a truck stop along Interstate 80. Location edited based on likely thunderstorm location from radar. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | - | The Iowa Dept. of Transportation relayed a report of stop sign blown over at highway 163 on the west side of Monroe. Time estimated via radar. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Monroe | - | Trained spotter reported up to nickel sized hail. Report came via text message picture. |
| July 2018 | Funnel Cloud | Monroe | - | Law enforcement reported a funnel cloud near Highway 163 and mile marker 25. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Monroe | - | Public reported wind gusts to 70 mph. |
| August 2015 | Hail | Monroe | - | Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail in Monroe, IA. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Monroe | - | no account filed |
| March 2023 | Hail | Monroe | - | no account filed |
| March 2006 | Hail | Monroe | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reasnor | 5.7 miles | 9 | |
| Wilson (historical) | 7.9 miles | 8 | |
| Galesburg | 8.6 miles | 8 | |
| Prairie City | 8.9 miles | 8 | |
| Metz | 10.1 miles | 8 | |
| Coal Siding (historical) | 10.5 miles | 8 | |
| Severs | 10.7 miles | 8 | |
| Vandalia | 10.9 miles | 11 |
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 Monroe | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1926338 | 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 459177. 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.





