Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
“Downey School is a historic building located in the unincorporated community of Downey, Iowa, United States. Built in four months in 1905, it was designed by Waterloo, Iowa architect J.G.”
Wikipedia article Downey School, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 21 National Register listings published here for Cedar County · listed in 2019 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 28 fires within 5 miles of Downey School between 2006 and 2017, burning about 490 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 | 13 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 July 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 June 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 26 June 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 June 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 April 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 April 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Downey, the town this property stands in, in 3 storm reports between 1998 and 2024: 2 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1998 | Tornado (F3) | Downey | 2 hurt, $1,750 | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Downey | $60,000 | Storm entered Cedar County from Johnson County northwest of Downey. At the West Branch exit on Interstate 80 a loaded semi was blown over. Trees and power lines were downed in West Branch along with baseball sized hail 4 miles east of the town. A barn and outbuilding were destroyed just before Springdale on county route F44. Based on KDVN 88D velocity data, the last expected severe damage was done 4.6 miles southwest of Lowden. The co-operative observer in Lowden only reported a peak wind gust of 37 knots (43 mph) when the storm moved through. Estimated times (all CST) for the West Branch area are 2025 and 2042 for Tipton. |
| May 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Downey | - | A tornado developed south of Riverside in Washington County, and moved rapidly northeast, following an intermittent path through southeast Johnson County, to near West Branch in Cedar County. The tornado destroyed an outbuilding southeast of Riverside, and caused tree and other outbuilding damage. The tornado was rated EF1 with maximum winds around 100 mph. Thanks to emergency management for assistance with this survey. |
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.
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 | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Downey Savings Bank | under 500 feet | 1976 |
 | Gruwell and Crew General Store | 3.7 miles | 1982 |
 | Herbert Hoover National Historic Site | 3.7 miles | 1966 |
 | Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (Boundary Increase) | 3.8 miles | 2013 |
 | West Branch Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase) | 3.9 miles | 1995 |
 | West Branch Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase) | 3.9 miles | 1990 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100004017 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Cedar County | All 21 listed properties in this county. |
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