Union, Iowa
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Union Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50258. The Survey maps it on the Union quadrangle. 399 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 942 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresUnion grew from 397 to 399 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 | 397 | |
| 2020 | 399 | +2 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 9 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.
- 1954 USGS Waterloo quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Waterloo quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1975 USGS Union quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Ames quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS Ames quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
2 since 2019Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Union in 2019, burning about 108 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 burning | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 June 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 8.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 April 2019 | Debris and open burning | 100 acres | 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 Union: 8 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonker Brick and Tile Co. | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Gifford Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Hackney Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Hardin Aggregates Sand Pit & Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Lloyd Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Penfield Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Wardman Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
13 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Union in 13 storm reports between 1997 and 2020: 6 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Union | $75,000 | Grain bins were destroyed by high winds. |
| June 2014 | Tornado (EF1) | Union | $50,000 | This is a multiple segment tornado with three segments that passed through portions of Story, Marshall and Hardin counties. This is the third and final segment in Hardin county. The tornado cycled, made a hard right turn, and began to intensify again after crossing into Hardin County. EF1 damage was sustained to wooden power poles and trees along 335th St. between T and U Ave. Turning NE again after crossing U Ave, the tornado roamed through open farmland and weakened, only causing intermittent tree damage after crossing County Road S62 1.5 miles south of Union. The tornado dissipated shortly before reaching the Iowa River. |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Union | $30,000 | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Union | $10,000 | Numerous trees were toppled in Union. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Union | $5,000 | Pea to dime size hail also. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Union | $5,000 | A pine tree was uprooted and 2 foot tall grass was flattened by estimated 70 MPH winds. |
| June 2010 | Hail | Union | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Union | $2,000 | This was a multiple segment tornado with two segment including portions of Marshall and Hardin counties. This is the second and final segment in Hardin county. After crossing into Hardin county, the narrowing tornado left a highly convergent tree damage pattern across 335th St. The path washed out in a pasture NE of this point just west of the Iowa River. |
| June 2010 | Hail | Union | $1,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Union | $1,000 | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Union | - | A trained spotter reported damage to barns and roofs. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Union | - | Public reported quarter sized hail via social media. Time estimated from radar. |
| July 2017 | Hail | Union | - | Public reported quarter sized hail. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gifford | 3.3 miles | 9 | |
| Whitten | 3.3 miles | 9 | |
| Secor (historical) | 4.5 miles | 9 | |
| Xenia | 4.6 miles | 9 | |
| New Providence | 6.2 miles | 9 | |
| Lawn Hill | 6.7 miles | 9 | |
| Eldora | 8.2 miles | 9 | |
| Rough Woods Hill | 11.0 miles | 9 |
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 Union | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2233327 | 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 462416. 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.




