Viola, Iowa
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Brown Township. It lies in ZIP code area 52336. The Survey maps it on the Springville quadrangle. It stands 978 feet above sea level.
On record in Viola
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
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 14 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.
- 1890 USGS Anamosa quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1900 USGS Anamosa quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1900 USGS Farley quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1973 USGS Springville quadrangle1:24000
- 1976 USGS Dubuque quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Anamosa quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
8 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Viola between 2008 and 2015, burning about 61 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 | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 May 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 1 April 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 31 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 16 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 13 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Viola: 9 past producers, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dearborn Quarry | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Penitentiary Quarry | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Weber Mine and Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension | Producer | ||
| Weber Quarry and Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension | Producer | ||
| Equitable Life Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Pearson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Weber Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Bowser Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Champion #2 Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Chas Zimmer Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
6 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Viola in 6 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | $4,000 | The secondary roads department reported trees down in the town of Viola. |
| July 2006 | Hail | Viola | $2,000 | relayed by media |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | - | Out building roof and walls damaged along with a grain bin. The time was estimated using radar data. |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | - | The Emergency Manager reported a jackknifed semi in the median of Highway 151 at mile marker 48 on the Linn/Jones county line. The time of the event was estimated using radar. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Viola | - | Winds were measured at 65 mph. |
| April 1996 | Hail | Viola | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springville | 3.7 miles | 14 | |
| Whittier | 4.0 miles | 14 | |
| Paralta | 5.1 miles | 14 | |
| Waubeek | 6.6 miles | 14 | |
| Jordans Grove | 7.4 miles | 14 | |
| Prairieburg | 10.3 miles | 14 | |
| Paris (historical) | 10.6 miles | 14 | |
| Central City | 10.6 miles | 15 |
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 Viola | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7932990 | 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 462581. 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.









