Otterville, Iowa
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Washington Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50644. It stands on Otter Creek. The Survey maps it on the Hazleton quadrangle.
On record in Otterville
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 within a mile 1 record
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
Mathias C. and Eva B. Crowell Fuhrman Farmlisted 1998 · 0.9 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 12 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.
- 1901 USGS Oelwein quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1959 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1976 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Hazleton quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Oelwein quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
22 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 22 fires within 5 miles of Otterville between 2006 and 2020, burning about 176 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 August 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 31 August 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 May 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 29 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 30 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 28 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 65 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Otterville: 7 past producers, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooks Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Greenley Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Hertzberg Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Miller Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Quality P M Pit | 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
11 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Otterville in 11 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2003 | Hail | Otterville | $1,000,000 | no account filed |
| August 2016 | Lightning | Otterville | $500,000 | The Emergency Manager reported that Lightning struck a barn on Henley Avenue about 2 miles northwest of Independence and caused it to burn down. There was also some loss of livestock during the fire. |
| July 2010 | Flash Flood | Otterville | $100,000 | Heavy rains of 2 to 3 inches which fell in about 90 minutes resulted in flash flooding in Independence, IA during the morning of July 22. Several streets on the northwest side of town were flooded with some cars stalled out in the flood waters. Numerous streets were closed due to the flooding. |
| July 2017 | Flood | Otterville | $50,000 | Heavy rainfall of 3 to over 9 inches over significant areas from 20 to 22 July in extreme north central and northeast Iowa moved downstream causing the Wapsipinicon River to rise above major flood stage levels. ||Independence rose above its major flood stage level of 15.0 feet on July 23rd, 2017 at approximately 1245 PM CST. It crested around 15.4 feet at approximately 445 PM CST on July 23rd, 2017. It fell below major flood stage on July 23rd around11 pm CST. |
| April 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otterville | $30,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew two semi trucks and two cars off of Highway 150 about 5 miles north of Independence, IA around 550 pm April 6. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Otterville | - | Image of very large hail was sent to the NWS in NWS Chat. The time was estimated from radar data. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Otterville | - | Pea to quarter sized hail was reported in the area. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otterville | - | Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down two 2 foot diameter trees near Route 150 about 4 miles north of Independence, IA around 430 am July 10. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otterville | - | Trees and limbs downed by strong winds. |
| March 2020 | Hail | Otterville | - | no account filed |
| July 2020 | Hail | Otterville | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independence | 4.1 miles | 11 | |
| Littleton | 4.4 miles | 9 | |
| Wise | 4.4 miles | 9 | |
| Bryantsburg | 5.1 miles | 12 | |
| Jesup | 6.6 miles | 9 | |
| Vista | 6.9 miles | 11 | |
| Doris | 7.3 miles | 11 | |
| Gatesville | 7.6 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 Otterville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7109459 | 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 459950. 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.






