Rochester, Iowa
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Rochester Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52772. It stands on Rock Creek. The Survey maps it on the Rochester quadrangle. 142 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 665 feet above sea level.
On record in Rochester
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
William Green Houselisted 1999
Population over time
2 figuresRochester grew from 133 to 142 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 | 133 | |
| 2020 | 142 | +9 (+7%) |
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.
- 1891 USGS Wilton Junction quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1901 USGS Stanwood quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Rochester quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Iowa City quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
16 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Rochester between 2006 and 2020, burning about 102 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 | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 June 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 May 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 May 2012 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 April 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | WEST BRANCH FIRE DEPT. |
| 7 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 703 310TH STREET, IOWA |
| 26 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 15 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Rochester: 8 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caudel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Rochester Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Sharpless Dredge - Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Atalissa Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Hodgden Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Kreb Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Lime City Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Mc Guire Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Peden Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
19 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rochester in 19 storm reports between 1997 and 2026: 10 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 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 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | $5,000 | Winds estimated to be 60 mph blew down some power lines. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | $1,000 | Tree down on a building near Rochester Park |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | Four semi trailers reported blown over at Interstate 80 exit 265. Time estimated from radar data. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | Estimated wind gust. |
| September 2022 | Hail | Rochester | - | Time estimated using radar. |
| September 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | Numerous reports of limbs down north of Rochester. The time of the event was estimated using radar. |
| October 2018 | Flash Flood | Rochester | - | Flash flooding closed Interstate 80 near West Branch. The flooding was not due to the Iowa River, but was in the same place that was closed during the major flood of 2008. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph were observed 2 miles south southwest of Rochester, IA at 520 pm CDT May 22. Some debris was seen blowing across Interstate 80. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rochester | - | Wind gusts were estimated to be 70 mph at Exit 265 on Interstate 80 or about 2 miles south of Rochester, IA at 1243 pm June 18. |
| August 2008 | Hail | Rochester | - | Penny-sized hail fell 2 miles southeast of Rochester, IA at 635 pm August 9. There was enough hail covering the ground to make a snowball. |
| March 2005 | Hail | Rochester | - | Covered the ground |
| March 2026 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| September 2022 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| April 2008 | Flood | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Rochester | - | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Hail | Rochester | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lime City | 4.7 miles | 14 | |
| Springdale | 5.3 miles | 12 | |
| Cedar Valley | 5.9 miles | 12 | |
| Tipton | 6.8 miles | 12 | |
| Ayresville | 7.7 miles | 14 | |
| Buchanan | 7.8 miles | 12 | |
| Centerdale | 8.2 miles | 12 | |
| Plato | 9.1 miles | 12 |
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 Rochester | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2895293 | 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 460704. 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.






