Preston, Iowa
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Van Buren Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52069. It stands on South Copper Creek. The Survey maps it on the Preston quadrangle. 949 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 646 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresPreston fell from 1,012 to 949 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 | 1,012 | |
| 2020 | 949 | -63 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 13 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.
- 1935 USGS Miles quadrangle1:62500
- 1941 USGS Miles quadrangle1:62500, 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 Preston quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Dubuque South quadrangle1:100000, 4 printings
Fires near this place
4 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Preston between 2003 and 2014, burning about 152 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2.5 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 1 January 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 acres | Iowa State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Preston: 3 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Lead, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Mines | Lead | Past Producer | Galena | |
| Marvin Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Preston Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Lead | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
15 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Preston in 15 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flood, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | $10,000 | Trees down;lasted 15 minutes |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | $10,000 | no account filed |
| April 1996 | Tornado (F0) | Preston | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | $5,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down a 12 inch diameter tree limb onto a house in Preston, IA at 1:35 pm June 12. |
| April 2026 | Tornado (EF1) | Preston | - | An NWS Storm Damage Survey Team confirmed an EF1 tornado with peak winds of 105 mph and maximum estimated width of 250 yards. Damage included over ten snapped power poles, over ten outbuildings and sheds destroyed, numerous homes with shingle damage, and many trees with large sections snapped. This tornado path began in Clinton County, Iowa. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | - | Tree limbs blown down on Highway 64. Time estimated by radar. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | - | A trained spotter reported estimated winds of 50 to 60 mph. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | - | Wind gusts were measured at 75 mph in Preston, IA at 724 pm CDT June 18. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | - | Wind gusts estimated to be 75 mph blew down several trees between Preston, IA and Highway 52 around 800 pm July 24. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | - | A spotter reported estimated 48 to 52 knot (55 to 60 mph) winds. |
| July 1999 | Flood | Preston | - | Slow-moving thunderstorms produced four to five inches of rainfall, which flooded streets and ditches in Preston. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Preston | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Preston | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spragueville | 1.9 miles | 13 | |
| Van Buren | 3.5 miles | 13 | |
| Rockaway (historical) | 3.6 miles | 13 | |
| Miles | 5.2 miles | 13 | |
| Reeceville | 8.1 miles | 15 | |
| Springbrook | 8.5 miles | 13 | |
| Green Island | 8.6 miles | 15 | |
| Sterling | 8.7 miles | 13 |
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 Preston | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1926420 | 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 460442. 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.







