BlockBefore

Primghar, Iowa

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Summit Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51245. It stands on Lake Creek. The Survey maps it on the Primghar quadrangle. 896 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,526 feet above sea level.

Primghar within O'Brien County

On record in Primghar

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Primghar fell from 909 to 896 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
2010909
2020896-13 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 7 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.

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 14 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 14 workings within 5 miles of Primghar: 11 past producers, 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Bordewick PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Clay County Hwy DeptSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Crosbie Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Maudlin Const CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Maudlin-PaullinaSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
MauerSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Obrien County Hwy DeptSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Schroer GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in O'Brien County

Storms near this place

29 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Primghar in 29 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 20 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. 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
July 2007Thunderstorm WindPrimghar$10,000Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including large branches blown down. The winds also blew down power lines.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindPrimghar$10,000no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindPrimghar$5,000no account filed
August 1994Thunderstorm WindPrimghar$5,000no account filed
July 2025Thunderstorm WindPrimghar-Highway 59 was closed through the entire town due to so many trees knocked down onto the road by thunderstorm wind gusts.
September 2025HailPrimghar-Several photos were received of quarter size hail in Primghar.
September 2025HailPrimghar-Quarter size hail fell for approximately 5 minutes.
July 2024Tornado (EFU)Primghar-A brief landspout developed just west of Redwing Avenue around one-half mile north of 380th Street. The landspout tracked generally northwest over open farmland before it lifted just south of 370th Street. Visible damage was not indicated via satellite or from reconnaissance of the area. The location was triangulated from landmarks on a drone video.
May 2012Tornado (EF0)Primghar-A brief tornado caused no reported damage.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindPrimghar-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down.
July 2004HailPrimghar-Large hail covered the ground.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindPrimghar-Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage, including at least one tree uprooted.
April 2026HailPrimghar-no account filed
June 2014HailPrimghar-no account filed
June 2008HailPrimghar-no account filed
May 2004HailPrimghar-no account filed
May 2004HailPrimghar-no account filed
May 2004HailPrimghar-no account filed
May 2004HailPrimghar-no account filed
May 2004HailPrimghar-no account filed
July 2004HailPrimghar-no account filed
October 2002HailPrimghar-no account filed
October 2002HailPrimghar-no account filed
August 2002HailPrimghar-no account filed
August 2000HailPrimghar-no account filed
August 2000HailPrimghar-no account filed
June 1999HailPrimghar-no account filed
June 1999HailPrimghar-no account filed
May 1998HailPrimghar-no account filed

Every storm recorded in O'Brien 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
Gaza5.2 miles7
Mapleside5.8 miles7
Archer6.6 miles7
Sanborn6.7 miles7
Max7.0 miles7
Paullina8.1 miles9
Philby9.3 miles7
Evander (historical)9.6 miles7

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 PrimgharAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q646487The 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 460449. 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.

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.