BlockBefore

Steamboat Rock, Iowa

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Clay Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50672. It stands on Elk Creek. The Survey maps it on the Steamboat Rock quadrangle. 264 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,014 feet above sea level.

Steamboat Rock within Hardin County

On record in Steamboat Rock

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

Steamboat Rock fell from 310 to 264 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
2010310
2020264-46 (-15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 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

13 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Steamboat Rock between 2006 and 2020, burning about 131 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 burning9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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 July 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 July 2017Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
4 June 2018Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 April 2019Debris and open burning35 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
8 April 2013Debris and open burning5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 April 2018Railroad operations and maintenance7.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
28 April 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
17 April 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined35 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources1.5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ELDORA, IA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hardin County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Steamboat Rock: 4 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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
Eldora Pipe and Tile Co.ClayPast Producer
Crosser PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Frericks PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Hardin City PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Hardin County

Storms near this place

25 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Steamboat Rock in 25 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 7 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 4 heavy rain, 3 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
May 1998Thunderstorm WindSteamboat Rock$30,000no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindSteamboat Rock$20,000Law Enforcement reported several large trees and power lines down in Steamboat Rock. At least 2 power poles snapped in half just west of Steamboat Rock on D35.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindSteamboat Rock$10,000Large trees blown down.
November 2005Tornado (F0)Steamboat Rock$10,000Brief tornado touchdown north of Steamboat Rock.
May 2004HailSteamboat Rock$3,000no account filed
August 2000LightningSteamboat Rock$3,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindSteamboat Rock$2,000no account filed
April 2006HailSteamboat Rock$2,000no account filed
April 2006HailSteamboat Rock$2,000no account filed
April 2007HailSteamboat Rock$1,000no account filed
June 2025Heavy RainSteamboat Rock-Total rainfall since midnight of 3.46 inches.
May 2024Heavy RainSteamboat Rock-Measured 1 inch in 20 minutes. Cannot see across road due to heavy rain.
August 2022HailSteamboat Rock-Delayed report relayed by broadcast media. Time estimated via radar.
June 2020Heavy RainSteamboat Rock-Coop observer reported a 24 hour rainfall total of 3.2 inches.
May 2019Funnel CloudSteamboat Rock-Law enforcement reported a funnel cloud.
May 2019Tornado (EFU)Steamboat Rock-Weak tornado reported northeast of Steamboat Rock along with spotter video. Remained in open farmland. Rated EF-Unknown as no damage indicators were impacted.
June 2018Funnel CloudSteamboat Rock-Trained spotter reported a rotating wall cloud with funnel.
June 2016HailSteamboat Rock-Media reported hail ranging from pea to nickel size. Time estimated from radar.
August 2015Heavy RainSteamboat Rock-Mesonet report of heavy rainfall of 5.24 inches through 3 pm.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindSteamboat Rock-Recorded at a mesonet site.
July 2011Funnel CloudSteamboat Rock-Spotter reported a funnel cloud 5 miles east of Eldora.
June 2009Tornado (EF0)Steamboat Rock-The tornado was on the ground briefly with a small debris cloud.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindSteamboat Rock-Wind gust measured by the Steamboat Rock RWIS site.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindSteamboat Rock-no account filed
April 2004HailSteamboat Rock-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Hardin 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
Eldora3.8 miles9
Cleves4.5 miles9
Hughs4.9 miles9
Berlin5.1 miles9
Abbott5.2 miles9
Abbott Crossing (historical)5.8 miles9
Eagle City6.0 miles9
Secor (historical)6.8 miles9

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 Steamboat RockAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1925235The 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 461977. 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.