BlockBefore

Plainfield, Iowa

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Polk Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50666. The Survey maps it on the Plainfield quadrangle. 393 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 942 feet above sea level.

Plainfield within Bremer County

Population over time

2 figures

Plainfield fell from 436 to 393 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.

YearPeople Change
2010436
2020393-43 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 9 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

3 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Plainfield between 2010 and 2015, burning about 515 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 burning2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
14 April 2015Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 April 2015Debris and open burning500 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 April 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources53265 140TH ST., IOWA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Bremer County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Plainfield: 5 past producers, 5 unknowns, 1 producer. 1 still produces. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Rattlesnake QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Boveig PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Nashua PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Bremer County

Storms near this place

50 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Plainfield in 50 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 28 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 7 flood, 3 heavy rain. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2008FloodPlainfield$250,000no account filed
April 2008FloodPlainfield$200,000no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$150,000no account filed
July 2018FloodPlainfield$100,000Water was reported over many roads in the county.
April 1997Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$100,000no account filed
August 2007Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$75,000High winds blew the roof off of a convenience store. The roof flew one block, shearing off power poles and knocking out power to entire town. Trees were blown down on houses in Plainfield. Trees and power poles were down just west of Plainfield.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$75,000Numerous trees were blown down along highway 218 from the Chickasaw/Bremer County line, south through at least Plainfield. Trees were blown down on roads and some homes. Power poles were also blown down on roads. Large areas were without electricity. a few barns were also blown down.
July 1995HailPlainfield$60,000no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$50,000Trained spotter reported numerous trees down and uprooted. A large grain bin was pushed several feet onto the railroad tracks. Large trash dumpsters were also tipped over.
September 2016FloodPlainfield$50,000Law enforcement reported street flooding along 130th in Plainfield, along with several other roads in the Plainfield area.
March 2010FloodPlainfield$50,000no account filed
July 1994Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$50,000no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$35,000no account filed
August 2013Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$25,000Numerous large trees down in town. One large tree leaning on a house.
May 1999HailPlainfield$25,000no account filed
June 2016Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$10,000Public reported trees and power lines damaged in town. Reported by NWS employee. Time estimated by radar.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$10,000Public reported trees down along with small hail covering the ground. Wind gusts of 65 MPH were recorded at an RWIS site.
April 2008FloodPlainfield$10,000no account filed
October 2004Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$10,000no account filed
March 2002Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$10,000no account filed
May 1999HailPlainfield$10,000no account filed
May 1999HailPlainfield$10,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$10,000no account filed
June 2013HailPlainfield$5,000no account filed
June 2013HailPlainfield$5,000no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$5,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$3,000Numerous tree branches down with 0.92 inches of rain in the past 10 minutes.
May 2004HailPlainfield$3,000no account filed
May 2013Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$2,000Public estimate of 60 MPH winds.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$2,000no account filed
May 2004HailPlainfield$2,000no account filed
May 2013HailPlainfield$1,000no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPlainfield$1,000no account filed
April 2025HailPlainfield-Ground covered in hail with largest up to 1.5 inches in diameter.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-Public report via mping of broken tree limbs.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-Public report via mping of broken tree limbs.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-Public report of 60 mph wind gust.
July 2018Heavy RainPlainfield-Public reported storm total heavy rainfall of 3.30 inches. Due to database entry limitation, beginning time coded as midnight CST. Actual estimated start time of 4pm CDT on June 30th.
July 2018Heavy RainPlainfield-Public reported heavy rainfall of 3.30 inches. Due to database entry limitation, beginning time coded as midnight CST. Actual estimated start time of 4pm CDT on June 30th.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-RWIS near Plainfield recorded a 65 mph wind gust.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-The Plainfield IDOT RWIS along Highway 218 recorded a 59 mph wind gust.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-Trained spotter estimated 60-70 mph wind gusts, along with 4-6 inch diameter tree branches broken off.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-The Plainfield IDOT RWIS along Highway 218 recorded a 68 mph wind gust.
June 2017HailPlainfield-Trained spotter reported golf ball sized hail.
June 2008Heavy RainPlainfield-Rainfall in past 25 minutes.
April 2014HailPlainfield-no account filed
August 2013Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-no account filed
August 2010Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-no account filed
June 2010FloodPlainfield-no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindPlainfield-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Bremer County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Horton3.3 miles9
Roxie6.3 miles9
Waverly9.0 miles11
Bremer9.1 miles9
Seigel9.6 miles9
Frederika12.4 miles9
Waverly Junction12.4 miles9
Artesian13.4 miles10

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 PlainfieldAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1926322The 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 460200. 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.