Built in 1885 (Queen Anne style). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
“Stearns House is a historic structure located in Garden Grove, Iowa, United States. Stearns was a local merchant and banker who was involved with C.S.”
Wikipedia article C.S. Stearns House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 7 National Register listings published here for Decatur County · listed in 1978 · category: Building · built in 1885, Queen Anne style.
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 3 fires within 5 miles of C. S. Stearns House between 2005 and 2012, burning about 840 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 | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 August 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 April 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 17 March 2005 | Debris and open burning | 800 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Garden Grove, the town this property stands in, in 19 storm reports between 2000 and 2024: 8 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 lightning, 2 flash 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 2001 | Lightning | Garden Grove | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Garden Grove | $40,000 | Grain bin destroyed. |
| July 2009 | Flash Flood | Garden Grove | $25,000 | Rural roads were under 5 to 6 feet of water. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Garden Grove | $25,000 | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Garden Grove | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Flash Flood | Garden Grove | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Garden Grove | $5,000 | One to one and one half inches of dime size hail covered the ground with some hail stones the size of ping pong balls. |
| March 2005 | Lightning | Garden Grove | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Garden Grove | $3,000 | no account filed |
| September 2000 | Hail | Garden Grove | $3,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Garden Grove | $2,000 | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Garden Grove | $1,000 | Heavy rain blew horizontally under a 15 foot eave and into the spotters house. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Garden Grove | $1,000 | no account filed |
| April 2024 | Hail | Garden Grove | - | Emergency manager relayed image of quarter sized hail just north of Garden Grove. Time estimated by radar. |
| March 2022 | Tornado (EFU) | Garden Grove | - | Video provided by a storm chaser indicated a satellite tornado to the larger tornado which travelled through Decatur, Wayne and Lucas counties. This was the first satellite tornado with another occurring later with the larger tornado. This tornado was also observed in high resolution satellite ground imagery. The tornado impacted no damage indicators, hence the EFU rating. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Garden Grove | - | Public reported that a large section of mature sweet corn was completely flattened. Time estimated from radar. |
| July 2015 | Heavy Rain | Garden Grove | - | Public reported a storm total heavy rainfall of 4.60 inches. |
| May 2009 | Hail | Garden Grove | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Garden Grove | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
 | J. J. McClung House | 0.4 miles | 1990 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 78001214 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Decatur County | All 7 listed properties in this county. |
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