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Photograph of Pillsbury Point State Park
Photograph by TheCatalyst31, CC0 1.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Pillsbury Point State Park

Built in 1933. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

From the record

“Pillsbury Point State Park is located in Arnolds Park, Iowa, United States. It is Iowa's smallest state park and unlike the others, it is an urban park.”

Wikipedia article Pillsbury Point State Park, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 12 National Register listings published here for Dickinson County · listed in 1993 · category: Structure · built in 1933, by Central Design Office, Ames.

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 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Off US 71 W of Minnewashta Lake, Arnolds Park, 51331
  • When was it listed? January 1993
  • Category. structure
  • Also known as. CCC Properties in Iowa State Parks MPS
  • Township. Center Grove township
  • When was it built? 1933
  • Architect. Central Design Office, Ames
  • National Register reference number. 90001674 - 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

28 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 28 fires within 5 miles of Pillsbury Point State Park between 2006 and 2017, burning about 404 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/undetermined23
Debris and open burning4
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
31 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
10 July 2012Debris and open burning8.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
27 June 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 April 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined60 acresIowa Department of Natural ResourcesA34, 2235 193RD AVE., OKOBOJI TWP, BY LITTLE SIOUX
9 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 April 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources25271 182ND ST., CENTER GROVE TWP, SPIRIT LAKE, IA
6 April 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resources2305 225TH ST., MILFORD TWP, MILFORD, IA, IA
30 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Dickinson County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 27 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 27 workings within 5 miles of Pillsbury Point State Park: 20 past producers, 6 producers, 1 unknown. 6 still produce. What was taken out: 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
BradburySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Dickinson County PitsSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Frey PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Leith PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Milford PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Milford PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Rohlin PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Roth PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Dickinson County

Storms near this property

23 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Arnolds Park, the town this property stands in, in 23 storm reports between 2001 and 2026: 11 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 4 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2010Thunderstorm WindArnolds Park$150,000Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree and power line damage, with resulting power outages. The tree damage included several large trees blown down. Power poles and light poles were also blown down. Some vehicles and homes sustained damage from falling trees and tree debris. Several rides were damaged at Arnolds Park Amusement Park. Docks, boat hoists, and several boats were damaged along the shore of Lake Okoboji.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindArnolds Park$50,000Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines.
June 2024Flash FloodArnolds Park-Heavy rainfall during the mid-evening from 2 to 4 inches in a brief time resulted in street flooding in numerous locations from near Spirit Lake to Milford. One car stalled in high water on U.S. Highway 71 in Arnolds Park. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for areal and river flooding for Dickinson County.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindArnolds Park-Thunderstorm winds downed a large 100-year-old tree, and removed gutters from a house.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindArnolds Park-Large tents destroyed by Arnolds Park Amusement Park.
June 2018Flash FloodArnolds Park-Rainfall from 3 to 6 inches in a couple hours brought a rapid onset to flash flooding around the Iowa Great Lakes. Significant street flooding began in Arnolds Park, with water flowing across and blocking Highway 71 at 1633CST.
June 2018Flash FloodArnolds Park-Life threatening flooding was underway with a car completely submerged on Highway 71 due to rapidly rising water.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindArnolds Park-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including an 8 inch diameter limb blown down onto a road.
June 2016HailArnolds Park-Nickel size hail was accompanied by damaging gusts.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindArnolds Park-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage. The winds were accompanied by nickel size hail.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindArnolds Park-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down.
June 2002Flash FloodArnolds Park-Heavy rain flooded roads, including three feet of water covering U.S. Highway 71.
April 2026HailArnolds Park-no account filed
July 2024HailArnolds Park-no account filed
May 2024HailArnolds Park-no account filed
July 2023HailArnolds Park-no account filed
June 2019HailArnolds Park-no account filed
June 2018HailArnolds Park-no account filed
June 2016HailArnolds Park-no account filed
July 2009HailArnolds Park-no account filed
May 2004HailArnolds Park-no account filed
April 2001HailArnolds Park-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindArnolds Park-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Dickinson 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
Spirit Lake Massacre Log Cabin0.8 miles1973
Gull Point State Park, Area B1.1 miles1990
Gull Point State Park, Area A1.4 miles1990
Iowa Lakeside Laboratory Historic District2.2 miles1991
Pikes Point State Park Shelter and Steps3.5 miles1990
Spirit Lake Public Library4.2 miles1980

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 90001674 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Dickinson CountyAll 12 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.