BlockBefore

Ruthven, Iowa

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Highland Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51358. The Survey maps it on the Ruthven quadrangle. 725 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,440 feet above sea level.

Ruthven within Palo Alto County

Population over time

2 figures

Ruthven fell from 737 to 725 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
2010737
2020725-12 (-2%)

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.

Fires near this place

13 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Ruthven between 2005 and 2019, burning about 970 acres in total. 2 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/undetermined8
Natural2
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Debris and open burning1

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
8 September 2012Naturalunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 September 2012Natural100 acresIowa Wetland Management DistrictSMITH SLOUGH WF
8 May 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined45 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 May 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined40 acresIowa Wetland Management DistrictBLUE WING MARSH
29 May 2014Smoking21 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 2015Debris and open burning50 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Palo Alto County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Ruthven: 8 past producers. None of them still produces. 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
Ruthven PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Palo Alto County

Storms near this place

34 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ruthven in 34 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 16 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 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
December 2021Thunderstorm WindRuthven$500,000Law enforcement reported hog building completely destroyed.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindRuthven$50,000Personal weather station gust to 62 mph. Widespread tree damage and minor sheet metal damage through the town of Ruthven just south of this station.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindRuthven$50,000no account filed
September 2014Thunderstorm WindRuthven$25,000The Palo Alto County EM reported several 24 inch diameter trees downed along with several power lines down in Ruthven.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindRuthven$20,000no account filed
October 2005Thunderstorm WindRuthven$15,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindRuthven$15,000no account filed
August 1995Thunderstorm WindRuthven$15,000no account filed
June 2004Tornado (F1)Ruthven$10,000Tornado tracked through mostly open area with only minor damage reported.
July 2012HailRuthven$10,000no account filed
June 2014Flash FloodRuthven$5,000Water flowing over 380th Avenue due to a creek out of its banks.
June 2014Flash FloodRuthven$5,000Water over 340th Avenue at the confluence of two small creeks north of Ruthven.
June 2010Flash FloodRuthven$5,000no account filed
May 2004HailRuthven$5,000no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindRuthven$5,000no account filed
August 2000Thunderstorm WindRuthven$5,000no account filed
October 2013HailRuthven$3,000no account filed
May 2008HailRuthven$3,000no account filed
May 2004HailRuthven$3,000no account filed
August 2000Thunderstorm WindRuthven$2,000no account filed
June 2008HailRuthven$1,000no account filed
August 2000HailRuthven$1,000no account filed
September 1998HailRuthven$200no account filed
April 2025HailRuthven-Mostly dime to nickel sized hail, but a few stones up to quarter sized.
July 2020HailRuthven-A report relayed via KICD of golf ball sized hail. Time estimated via radar.
July 2020HailRuthven-A report relayed via KICD of quarter sized hail.
June 2019HailRuthven-Coop observer reported quarter sized hail.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindRuthven-Coop observer reported 60 mph wind gusts.
June 2018Heavy RainRuthven-Broadcast media, KICD Radio, relayed public report of heavy rainfall of 2.2 inches near Lost Island Lake over the last 24 hours.
June 2018Heavy RainRuthven-KICD Radio relayed a public report of heavy rainfall of 4.5 inches over the last 24 hours.
June 2018HailRuthven-Broadcast media, KICD, relayed reports of quarter sized hail.
August 2017HailRuthven-Coop observer reported quarter sized hail.
August 2008HailRuthven-A KICD staffer reported hail in the Ruthven and Lost Island Lake area.
September 1998HailRuthven-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Palo Alto 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
Fallow (historical)7.0 miles7
Ayrshire7.1 miles7
Graettinger10.8 miles7
Osgood11.4 miles7
Emmetsburg11.5 miles7
Curlew13.3 miles8
Mallard17.6 miles8
Cylinder18.6 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 RuthvenAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1913411The 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 460866. 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.