BlockBefore

Swanwood, Iowa

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Saylor Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50313. The Survey maps it on the Des Moines NE quadrangle.

Swanwood within Polk County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 16 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

4 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Swanwood between 2006 and 2015, burning about 21 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/undetermined4

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
2 July 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural ResourcesU.S 20 @ N-57, IA
4 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 February 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 February 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Polk 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 Swanwood: 4 past producers, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Flagstone, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Capitol Hill Sandstone QuarryFlagstonePast Producer
West Des Moines Plant #8Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Can-Tex Industries West PitClayProducer
Iowa Clay Pipe Co. PitClayPast Producer
Berwick PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Bowser PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Des Moines North Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Johnston Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Polk County

Storms near this place

16 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Swanwood in 16 storm reports between 2009 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 3 heavy rain, 2 hail, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2012Flash FloodSwanwood$25,000Twelve to 18 inches of water flowing across Delaware Ave north of Oralabor Rd.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindSwanwood$25,000no account filed
July 2019Thunderstorm WindSwanwood$2,000Iowa DOT reported trees down at the Iowa DOT facility in Ankeny, including small 4 to 6 inch diameter trees snapped and blown down. This is a delayed report and time estimated from radar.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindSwanwood$2,000no account filed
July 2019Thunderstorm WindSwanwood$1,000Iowa DOT reported portable message boards blown over. Time estimated from radar.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindSwanwood-Ankeny airport reported a 52 kt gust.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindSwanwood-AWOS measurd a 68 knot wind gust.
June 2019Heavy RainSwanwood-Ankeny Regional Airport AWOS recorded heavy rainfall of 2.06 inches over the last 24 hours.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindSwanwood-Public reported a large 6 to 8 inch tree branch snapped. This is a delayed report and time estimated from radar.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindSwanwood-Public reported a large tree branch, 6 to 8 inches in diameter, snapped. This is a delayed report. Time estimated from radar.
June 2015Heavy RainSwanwood-Coop observer reported heavy rainfall of 3.31 inches over the last 24 hours. Coop observer station Four Mile Creek Alert Station FMBI4.
June 2015Flash FloodSwanwood-Law enforcement reported water flowing over road along NE 70th near Carney Marsh Nature Preserve in Ankeny. Road is being barricaded and closed to traffic.
April 2012Heavy RainSwanwood-Rainfall of 2.86 inches in 24 hours.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindSwanwood-no account filed
May 2014HailSwanwood-no account filed
July 2012HailSwanwood-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Polk 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
Marquisville0.7 miles16
Saylor1.1 miles16
Norwoodville1.6 miles16
Saylor Station2.0 miles16
Berwick2.6 miles16
Carney2.6 miles16
Bowsher2.7 miles16
Saylorville2.8 miles17

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.

Wikidata item Q122552784The 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 462142. 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.