BlockBefore
Photograph of Helvig-Olson Farm
Photograph by Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Helvig-Olson Farm Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

From the record

“The Helvig-Olson Farm Historic District is an agricultural historic district located in rural Clinton County, Iowa, United States, 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of the town of Grand Mound. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.”

Wikipedia article Helvig-Olson Farm Historic District, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 33 National Register listings published here for Clinton County · listed in 2000 · category: District.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 7 buildingss, 1 site as contributing to the listing.
  • Listed as. Helvig--Olson Farm Historic District - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
  • Address. 2008 260th St., Grand Mound, 52751
  • When was it listed? August 2000
  • Category. district
  • Also known as. Norwegian Related Resources of Olive Township, Clinton County, Iowa MPS
  • Township. Olive township
  • National Register reference number. 00000924 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

1 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Helvig-Olson Farm Historic District in 2008, burning about 3 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/undetermined1

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
1 November 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Clinton County

Mines and quarries near this property

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Helvig-Olson Farm Historic District: 6 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Old Rr M Jacobsn PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
King QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
M EppingStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Techau Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Clinton County

Storms near this property

23 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Grand Mound, the town this property stands in, in 23 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 10 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 4 tornado, 3 flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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
March 2023Tornado (EF2)Grand Mound1 hurtA strong tornado developed over the southeast part of Grand Mound, Iowa, and tracked through Charlotte, Iowa. A continuous damage track was noted, with several damaged houses, especially in Charlotte. The highest damage rating was located northeast of Grand Mound, where a whole house was shifted off it's foundation, and an entire house completely collapsed. Many areas noted tree damage and snapped power poles along the track of the tornado as well. Damage was also noted in Charlotte, associated with partial to complete destruction of barns and outbuildings. 3 people where trapped in the house that collapsed in Grand Mound, and one was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. The peak winds were estimated at 120 mph.
July 1995HailGrand Mound$100,000no account filed
April 1994Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound$50,000no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound$25,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down some power lines and trees about 8 miles north of Donahue, IA around 715 pm June 18. Two trees fell onto a house. A nearby garage sustained damage to the roof and another garage was knocked down.
July 2017FloodGrand Mound$10,000Heavy rainfall of 3 to over 9 inches over significant areas from 20 to 22 July in extreme north central and northeast Iowa moved downstream causing the Wapsipinicon River to rise above major flood stage levels. ||DeWitt rose above its major flood stage level of 12.5 feet on July 30th, 2017 at approximately 645 AM CST. It crested around 13.3 feet at approximately 615 AM CST on July 23rd, 2017. Major river flooding continued into August.
April 2015Tornado (EF1)Grand Mound$10,000The tornado touched down 8 miles west of Maysville and continued on path for 22 miles and lifted 2 miles south of DeWitt. The tornado began in Scott County, and was on the ground for another 5.8 miles after it moved into Clinton County. It was rated as an EF-1 after an NWS Storm Survey. The tornado snapped numerous trees and there was damage to farm outbuildings.
July 1995HailGrand Mound$10,000no account filed
July 1995HailGrand Mound$10,000no account filed
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound-Large trees reported down in town.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound-Personal weather station measured a 60 MPH gust. Wires also reported down in Grand Mound.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound-Public report of damage to a fabric roofed hoop outbuilding sheet.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound-Many tree branches blown down in Grand Mound. The time was estimated from radar.
August 2019Tornado (EF0)Grand Mound-A brief tornado occurred at a farmstead. Numerous tree branches were down, with one tree uprooted. The home had trim and shingle damage, and a window broken. Grass was splattered on the garage and wind driven hail was also noted on west side of home and garage. Maximum winds were estimated to be 85 mph.
August 2018Tornado (EF0)Grand Mound-An EF-0 tornado touched down near the Scott County and Clinton County line. Minor damage to tree branches was observed in this area. The tornado strengthened and caused damage to trees and a house. Towards the end of its path, it caused mainly damage to corn. The peak estimated winds were 80 MPH and the tornado was on the ground for 4.14 miles.
September 2018FloodGrand Mound-Episodes of heavy rainfall of about 5 to 15 inches in a 10 day period in much of northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin caused the Wapsipinicon River to rise above major flood stage near DeWitt. The extended duration between the forecast and actual occurrence of lower end major river flooding allowed preparations to preclude major damage downstream. The gauge near DeWitt rose above major flood stage of 12.5 feet at 7 AM CST on 7 September. Then crested around 13.99 feet at 5 PM CST on September 10th and fell slightly below 12.5 feet for a few days at approximately 745 AM CST on 17 September. It then rose again above major flood stage at 135 AM on 22 September and continued above major flood stage into October.
April 2017HailGrand Mound-This report was relayed by local broadcast media (KWQC). The time of the event was estimated using radar.
June 2013FloodGrand Mound-Heavy rains in late May led to rises on rivers across the region. The Wapsipinicon River rose above the major flood stage of 12.5 feet during the late evening hours of the 2nd. The river did not fall below the major flood stage until the afternoon hours of the 10th.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound-Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some tree limbs and flattened some corn near Grand Mound, IA at 722 pm June 18.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound-Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down several large tree limbs in Grand Mound, IA around 900 pm July 24.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound-Law enforcement estimated a thunderstorm wind gust to 60 mph.
July 2015HailGrand Mound-no account filed
July 2015HailGrand Mound-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindGrand Mound-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Clinton County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Kvindherred Lutheran Church, School and Cemetery1.1 miles2000
George Johnson House1.2 miles2000
Kvindherred Lutheran Church, School and Cemetery1.2 miles2000
Dugan's Saloon2.7 miles2001
Grand Mound Town Hall and Waterworks Historic District3.0 miles2001
Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank3.1 miles2001

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 00000924 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Clinton CountyAll 33 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • 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.