Montezuma, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Jackson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50171. The Survey maps it on the Montezuma quadrangle. 1,442 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 951 feet above sea level.
On record in Montezuma
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 3 records
Montezuma Downtown Historic Districtlisted 2012
Poweshiek County Courthouselisted 1981- New Carroll House Hotellisted 1979
Population over time
2 figuresMontezuma fell from 1,462 to 1,442 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 | 1,462 | |
| 2020 | 1,442 | -20 (-1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 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
- 1957 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Montezuma quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Grinnell quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
9 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Montezuma between 2006 and 2017, burning about 99 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 | 8 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 June 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.5 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 20 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 February 2017 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 18 February 2017 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 18 February 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 68 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Montezuma in 68 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 31 thunderstorm wind, 21 heavy rain, 12 hail, 1 flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $200,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $50,000 | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Flood | Montezuma | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $40,000 | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $35,000 | no account filed |
| November 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $30,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $27,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $15,000 | no account filed |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $10,000 | A trained spotter measured this wind gust and reported tree limb damage. |
| July 2008 | Lightning | Montezuma | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $10,000 | no account filed |
| September 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $5,000 | Poweshiek County Rd. Department reports a power pole blown down. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $5,000 | Peak wind gust was measured by a weather station at the water treatment plant. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $5,000 | Measured gust by KCCI schoolnet site. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $3,000 | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Montezuma | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Montezuma | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Montezuma | $2,000 | Quarter size hail, hail was in a disk-like shape. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $2,000 | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $2,000 | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Montezuma | $1,000 | Hail was reported by a KCCI television viewer. |
| April 2008 | Hail | Montezuma | $1,000 | KCCI TV reported hail up to nickel size covering a deck. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Montezuma | $1,000 | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | - | Tree on house, with time of occurrence estimated from radar. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Montezuma | - | Report via social media. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Montezuma | - | Reported 56mph winds with nickel to quarter sized hail. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Montezuma | - | Delayed report, time estimated by radar. |
| April 2022 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Storm total of 3.03 inches of rain. Light rain continues. |
| November 2022 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | A 24 hour rain total of 2.74 inches. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | - | Small tree limbs down. Gust measured by personal weather station. Time estimated via radar. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montezuma | - | Storm chaser reports trees down and damage to outbuildings. Time estimated via radar. |
| August 2021 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Storm total rainfall of 2.13 inches. |
| July 2021 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | A 24 hour rain total of 2.24 inches. |
| August 2021 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | A 24 hour rainfall of 3.45 inches. |
| September 2019 | Hail | Montezuma | - | WHO TV relayed public reports of quarter sized hail near Montezuma. |
| August 2019 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 2.15 inches. Beginning time estimated from radar. |
| August 2019 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.17 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| September 2018 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 6.48 inches for the last 24 hour period. Due to limitations in the database entry, beginning time coded as midnight CST. |
| September 2018 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 5.16 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| May 2017 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Coop observer reported 24 hour rainfall total of 1.42 inches. |
| August 2016 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Coop observer recorded heavy rainfall of 2.72 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| November 2016 | Funnel Cloud | Montezuma | - | Cedar Falls Dispatch relayed a report from an officer of a funnel cloud SW of his position. At the time of the report, the officer was just south of I-80 on Highway 21 looking to the SW. Location estimated based on radar. |
| August 2015 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 4.20 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| August 2015 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of 4.80 inches for a 24 hour storm total. |
| August 2015 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of 4.80 inches for storm total. |
| November 2015 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 1.68 inches over the last 24 hours. |
| December 2015 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 3.68 inches over the last 48 hours/storm total so far. |
| December 2015 | Heavy Rain | Montezuma | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of 3.80 inches storm total so far. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brownsville (historical) | 5.3 miles | 8 | |
| Ewart | 5.8 miles | 8 | |
| Deep River | 8.1 miles | 8 | |
| Stillwell | 8.6 miles | 8 | |
| Malcom | 8.6 miles | 8 | |
| Dresden | 9.1 miles | 8 | |
| Jacobs | 9.3 miles | 8 | |
| Searsboro | 9.3 miles | 8 |
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 Montezuma | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1911096 | 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 459191. 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.
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.





