Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
“Plum Grove is a historic house located in Iowa City, United States. Plum Grove was the retirement home of Gov.”
Wikipedia article Plum Grove Historic House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 96 National Register listings published here for Johnson County · listed in 1973 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 20 fires within 5 miles of Plum Grove between 2006 and 2017, burning about 65 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 | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 June 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 4733 HWY 6 SE, IOWA CITY, IOWA |
| 20 May 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 April 2013 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 25 April 2017 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 April 2015 | Smoking | 5.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 15 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 11 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Plum Grove: 5 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension, Flagstone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hutchinson Quarry | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Sanders Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, Dimension, Flagstone | Past Producer | ||
| Showers Sandpit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Stevens Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Conklin Quarry and Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Donovan Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Vogel Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Iowa City, the town this property stands in, in 116 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 48 hail, 39 thunderstorm wind, 16 flash flood, 5 flood. The reports record 30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2006 | Tornado (F2) | Iowa City | 30 hurt, $12,000,000 | Rated very high F2 with winds estimated at 155 mph. |
| May 1997 | Hail | Iowa City | $40,000,000 | A 15 minute "rain" of baseball sized hail caused $30 to $50 million dollars of damage. One insurance agent said "this was the worst storm since 1967." He went on to say; "everyone he insures who has a skylight now has a broken skylight." This included the skylights over the swimming pool in the downtown Iowa City Holliday Inn. The average home claim was $3500 and the average car claim was $2500. The hail caused widespread damage to individuals cars and between 300 and 500 thousand dollars worth of damage to each of four car dealerships interviewed. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Iowa City | $500,000 | Reports of urban flash flooding were received from around Iowa City. 8 to 10 inches of water covered a parking lot at a radio station, stranding 5 employees. 4 of the 5 were evacuated by the fire department. Numerous major streets were closed, and some businesses suffered minor flooding damage. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Iowa City | $100,000 | Car windows broken on Interstate 380 |
| May 2003 | Hail | Iowa City | $100,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Iowa City | $70,000 | Hail of 1.00 to 1.50 inches in diameter with some golfball sized hail occurred with thunderstorm number 3 in Iowa City, and 2 miles west, 1 mile south, and 1 mile east of Iowa City. Hail covered the ground in the southeast part of the city with numerous cars receiving dents. |
| April 2006 | Hail | Iowa City | $50,000 | Spotter location is on Glendale Rd at the end of Jefferson; dime to golfball size hail |
| April 2006 | Hail | Iowa City | $30,000 | Public report of baseball size hail at mile marker 252 on I-80 |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $30,000 | KIOW measured 49 knots @ 2301 CST |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $25,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 60 to 75 mph blew down numerous trees and power lines near Van Buren, Market, Church, and Fairchild streets in Iowa City around 1240 pm CDT June 18. At least 2 trees landed on homes. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $15,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed 6 to 12 inch diameter limbs, uprooted a tree, and blew the plastic out of the Hill Bank sign. Time is estimated based on radar. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $10,000 | Law Enforcement relayed that they received several reports of limbs down and isolated power poles down in western and southern portions of the county. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $4,500 | Thunderstorm winds blew a door off of a lumber company and destroyed parts of the lawn and garden center. A freestanding green house housing bedding plants was shredded by the winds |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $4,000 | Sheriff department reported trees down near the intersection of Newport Road NE & Oak Ridge Trail NE. |
| October 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $4,000 | Trees and power lines down on Sand Road. KIOW ASOS to the west and north of this location recorded a 40 knot (46 mph) wind gust at 1956 CST. KDVN 88D velocity data indicated the strongest winds passed to the south and east of KIOW. |
| April 2006 | Hail | Iowa City | $3,000 | Jct of highways 1 & 218. |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $2,000 | Small trees down. KIOW ASOS is the Iowa River valley and partially sheltered by higher terrain. KIOW ASOS reported a peak wind of 43 knots (50 mph) at 1809 CST (0009 UTC). A few sporatic reports of 40-45 knots (46-52 mph) were received west of Iowa City. |
| October 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $2,000 | Trees down along American Legion Road near the intersection of 400th Street. |
| July 2003 | Heavy Rain | Iowa City | $2,000 | Dubuque street at I-80 with street flooding |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $1,000 | A trained spotter reported a 25 foot tall tree down on the west side of town along the Camp Cardinal Road. The report was delayed and the time of the event was estimated from radar. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $1,000 | Trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | $200 | Severe thunderstorm winds downed trees. |
| March 2026 | Hail | Iowa City | - | A public reported that hail up to the size of quarters was covering the ground The hail last for 10 minutes. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Iowa City | - | Report received from Mping. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Iowa City | - | Report received from Mping. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Iowa City | - | The time was estimated from radar data. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | Power lines downed in the area due to strong thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | Many tree branches ranging in sizes up to six inches in diameter down. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | A large pine tree fell onto a home. . |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | A large, 3 foot diameter tree was blown down. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | A public report of a 58 MPH thunderstorm wind gust. |
| July 2024 | Flash Flood | Iowa City | - | A trained spotter reported around 8 to 10 inches of water completely covering the roadway between West Park Road and Rocky Shore Drive. |
| July 2024 | Flash Flood | Iowa City | - | A public report via social media of roadway inundated with water as well as flood waters up against a few homes. |
| July 2024 | Flash Flood | Iowa City | - | Dispatch Center reported knee deep water on Johnson Street in downtown Iowa City. The time of the event was estimated using radar. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | Power lines down with power outages around Dodge Street. Time estimated from radar. |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | The Emergency Manager reported multiple power lines down on Riverside Drive in Iowa City. |
| May 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | Several medium sized tree limbs blown down. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | Severe winds and the power is out. |
| June 2020 | Flash Flood | Iowa City | - | Area river gauges were indicating high water leavels occurring on many creeks and rivers across Johnson County and in particular in North Liberty and Iowa City. While levels have peaked and creeks and rivers are starting to recede, these creeks and rivers remain out of their banks. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | The Emergency Manager reported power lines and tree branches down in town and south of town. |
| February 2017 | Hail | Iowa City | - | A spotter reported quarter size hail on the southeast side of Iowa City. |
| February 2017 | Hail | Iowa City | - | Another storm impacting Iowa City brought nickel size hail. The time of this has been estimated by radar data. |
| February 2017 | Hail | Iowa City | - | A trained spotter reported around penny size hail. |
| February 2017 | Hail | Iowa City | - | A trained spotter reported 1.25 diameter hail. |
| February 2017 | Hail | Iowa City | - | A spotter reports dime to nickel size hail covering the ground on the southeast side of Iowa City. |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | An ASOS measured a wind gust of 52 kts. |
| July 2017 | Hail | Iowa City | - | The county emergency manager reported pea to dime sized hail on the east side of Iowa City at 7th and Muscatine Avenue. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Iowa City | - | A trained spotter reported several inches of water flowing over the road with manhole covers blown out. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Iowa City | - | The county emergency manager reported a few cars stalled in several inches of ponding water on streets in town. |
| June 2016 | Flash Flood | Iowa City | - | Emergency management reported the Iowa River Bike Path inundated with water, near the Highway 6 overpass. |
| June 2015 | Funnel Cloud | Iowa City | - | Law enforcement relayed a public report of a funnel cloud. |
| April 2015 | Hail | Iowa City | - | A trained spotter reported half inch to three quarter inch hail was falling at the time of the report. |
| October 2015 | Lightning | Iowa City | - | Iowa City's fire department reported that they had three buildings, and one tree set on fire by lightning. Two of the three building fires resulted in fire fighting efforts. One significant structure fire at 623 E. College St had mutual support called from nearby city departments, and sustained significant fire damage. Fire fighters were forced to take the defensive action of pulling firefighters from ladders, due to the continued frequent lightning in the area. |
| November 2015 | Hail | Iowa City | - | Delayed report. Time was estimated. Hail size was pea to dime sized. |
| November 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | A trained spotter estimated winds up to 60 mph occurred. |
| November 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | A trained spotter reported a tree down in the far eastern parts of Iowa City. Time estimated by radar. |
| April 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | A trained spotter reported down tree limbs measuring approximately 18 inches in diameter as a result of high winds along the front edge of a storm moving through Iowa City on Marcy Street. This report was delayed and the time of the event was estimated. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Iowa City | - | The Emergency Manager reported penny sized hail. |
| April 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iowa City | - | The Johnson County Emergency Manager reported a power pole down near the Emergency Dispatch Center. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Iowa City | - | The public reported hail to the size of quarters near Interstate 80 exit 246. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Clark House | 0.1 miles | 1996 |
 | Kirkwood House | 0.3 miles | 1974 |
 | Hawthorne Glove and Novelty Company-Shrader Drug Company Building | 0.4 miles | 2014 |
| Tate Arms | 0.5 miles | 2019 | |
 | South Summit Street District | 0.5 miles | 1973 |
 | Close House | 0.5 miles | 1974 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 73000731 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Johnson County | All 96 listed properties in this county. |
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