Onslow, Iowa
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Madison Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52321. The Survey maps it on the Wyoming West quadrangle. 201 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 919 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresOnslow grew from 197 to 201 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 | 197 | |
| 2020 | 201 | +4 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 15 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.
- 1891 USGS Monticello quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1900 USGS Anamosa quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1900 USGS Farley quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1976 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Wyoming West quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Anamosa quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
13 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Onslow between 2007 and 2018, burning about 63 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 | 7 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 25 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 19 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 18 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 12 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 24 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 March 2014 | 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
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Onslow: 2 producers, 2 past producers, 1 occurrence. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Lead. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occurrence | Lead | Occurrence | Galena | |
| Doll Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Hutton Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Judas Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Wyoming Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
10 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Onslow in 10 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 hail, 1 flash 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onslow | $50,000 | A strong thunderstorm formed over eastern Iowa during the early afternoon hours. There was not much in the way of activity around it. The storm was rather short lived and created what was an apparent downburst northwest of Onslow, in Jones County. A grain bin and 2 pole buildings were flattened by the force of the wind. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onslow | $40,000 | Severe thunderstorm winds caused extensive damage on a farm northeast of Onslow. On the property, a mobile home, shop, and several smaller buildings were destroyed. The barn was shifted one foot off its foundation and several pipe gates were mangled and destroyed. |
| May 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Onslow | $1,000 | no account filed |
| April 2026 | Hail | Onslow | - | Emergency management provided a photo. The time was estimated from radar data. |
| April 2026 | Tornado (EFU) | Onslow | - | An EFU tornado confirmed based on multiple chaser videos and spotter reports. No known damage along its 2.6 mile path. Tornado path determined by radar and video evidence. |
| April 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onslow | - | The emergency manager reported signs and tree limbs blown down on road E-29 east of Onslow. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Onslow | - | Quarter-sized hail fell on Route 136 about 6 miles north of Onslow, IA |at 2:50 pm June 20. This report was relayed by the Jone County Sheriff Office. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Onslow | - | Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding of parts of Jones County during the early morning hours of June 13. The flood waters forced the closure of several roads around Wyoming, IA. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onslow | - | Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew some corn crops over 3 miles north of Onslow, IA at 155 pm July 10. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Onslow | - | Several power poles blown over. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson (historical) | 3.1 miles | 15 | |
| Wyoming | 3.3 miles | 15 | |
| Center Junction | 3.9 miles | 15 | |
| Clay Mills | 6.6 miles | 17 | |
| Edinburg | 6.6 miles | 15 | |
| Scotch Grove | 6.7 miles | 15 | |
| Ebys Mill | 6.8 miles | 15 | |
| Hale | 6.9 miles | 15 |
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 Onslow | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1927511 | 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 459871. 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.








