BlockVillisca, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in East Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50864. The Survey maps it on the Villisca quadrangle. 1,132 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,076 feet above sea level.
On record in Villisca
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 2 records
Josiah B. and Sara Moore Houselisted 1997
Villisca National Guard Armorylisted 2015
Population over time
2 figuresVillisca fell from 1,252 to 1,132 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 | 1,252 | |
| 2020 | 1,132 | -120 (-10%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 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.
- 1955 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Villisca quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Mount Ayr quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Villisca between 2007 and 2011, burning about 25 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 | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 1171 WILLOW AVE, IA |
| 22 March 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 24 February 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Villisca: 1 past producer. 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villisca Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
22 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Villisca in 22 storm reports between 1999 and 2024: 9 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Villisca | $10,000 | This tornado was apparently the decaying part of a cyclic tornado which produced the long-lived and eventually strong tornado which initially touched down 2 miles northeast of Clarinda, trees and small outbuildings sustained the majority of damage from this tornado. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Villisca | - | A 67 miles per hour wind gust was measured on a personal weather station. |
| May 2024 | Tornado (EF2) | Villisca | - | This is a continuation of the Adams County EF-3 tornado as it came out of Page County. This tornado crossed into southern Montgomery County just east of the Montgomery-Page Street and O Avenue intersection. As the tornado continued to the northeast, it tracked through several homesteads snapping tree trunks and destroying multiple farm outbuildings. As the tornado crossed 250th Street, a radio tower was destroyed resulting in EF-2 damage. Further to the northwest at a homestead at the intersection of 240th Street and T Avenue, a home took a direct hit with the majority of its roof blown off in addition to the loss of several exterior walls on the second floor. Trees on the property were uprooted and farm outbuilding were completely destroyed and swept away. This is the strongest damage from this tornado in Montgomery County, rated EF-2 with estimated wind speeds of 130 mph. The tornado then crossed US Highway 71 three-quarters of a mile south of US Highway 34, causing damage to trees and destroying an attached garage to a residence. The walls of the garage were bolted to the foundation and had been completely swept away. The remaining house had significant roof damage, but all the walls remained. Afterwards, the tornado crossed US Highway 34 on the south side of the Hacklebarney Woods County Park. Here trees were snapped, small outbuildings were destroyed and a camping trailer was rolled on its side. The tornado then continued northeast, causing damage to outbuildings and snapping tree trunks as it crossed Vine Avenue. The tornado then crossed into Adams County (see Des Moines National Weather Service StormData) approximately two-thirds of a mile north of 210th Street. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Villisca | - | Public reported trees blown down at the golf course. |
| March 2020 | Hail | Villisca | - | Emergency manager reported 2 inch hail. |
| April 2018 | Hail | Villisca | - | Penny size hail 1/2 mile east of Villisca was reported. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Villisca | - | The emergency manager reported some outbuildings destroyed at a farmstead. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Villisca | - | The emergency manager reported that the roof from the local power plant was removed. A chicken plant on the southwest side of town was also destroyed, and there were numerous large tree branches down in town as well. |
| May 2011 | Flood | Villisca | - | Rainfall of at least 2 to 3 inches caused minor flooding of the Nodaway River in far southwest Iowa. The river near Clarinda crested at a little over 21.5 feet during the evening of 5/11, flood stage is 19 feet. The flooding affected mainly agricultural lowlands and no damage was reported. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Villisca | - | Hail at least up to golf ball-size was accompanied by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph. The winds and hail caused extensive tree, vehicle and home damage in the area. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Villisca | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph severely damaged some grain bins in the Villisca area and caused widespread tree damage as well. Some of the fallen trees damaged homes and vehicles and the winds were accompanied by hail at least golf ball-size which also damaged vehicles and homes. |
| March 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Villisca | - | The tornado touched down just southwest of the intersection of 270th and Q Ave. west-southwest of Villisca. Near that point the roof was torn off of an outbuilding and an empty grain bin was blown across the road. A barn had some roof structure damage 2 to 3 miles north of there, near where the tornado apparently lifted. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Villisca | - | Four train cars were derailed near Villisca due to thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph. |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Villisca | - | A microburst produced straight-line winds estimated at 80 to 100 mph. The winds caused significant damage to an apartment building, at least one garage and one camper. Large trees were also blown down. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Villisca | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph knocked down numerous large limbs and several trees which blocked a road and downed power lines. Power was knocked out over a large section of town. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Villisca | - | Thunderstorm winds estimated at over 60 mph downed power poles causing a power outage in Villisca. |
| May 2013 | Hail | Villisca | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Villisca | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Villisca | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Villisca | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Villisca | - | no account filed |
| September 1999 | Hail | Villisca | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarinda Junction (historical) | 1.3 miles | 8 | |
| Tenville | 5.5 miles | 9 | |
| Sciola | 7.2 miles | 9 | |
| Stanton | 7.7 miles | 8 | |
| Wallin | 9.9 miles | 9 | |
| Morton Mills | 10.4 miles | 9 | |
| Frankfort (historical) | 11.0 miles | 9 | |
| Biddick (historical) | 11.6 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 Villisca | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q639077 | 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 462574. 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.