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Madison County, Idaho

42 topographic sheets cover 24 settlements here, and 3 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

3 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

Idaho within the United States
Madison County within Idaho

What the record shows

  • 266 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 3 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 3 buildings.
  • 1 of the 3 listings was added during the 1970s.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 24 populated places in this county; 24 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

3

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Photograph PropertyType ListedReference
Madison County Courthousebuilding198787001587
Rexburg Stake Tabernaclebuilding197474000745
Jacob Spori Buildingbuilding198989000329

Wildfire, 1992 to 2020

67 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 67 of them, burning about 2,279 acres. 21 started naturally and 2 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Natural21
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Recreation and ceremony11
Equipment and vehicle use9
Debris and open burning6
Smoking2
Arson/incendiarism2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Fireworks1
Firearms and explosives use1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. None of them was recorded as arson.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
24 July 2018Debris and open burning615 acresIdaho Falls DistrictTWIN BUTTE
15 September 2000Debris and open burning508 acresIdaho Falls DistrictGREEN
29 October 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined505 acresIdaho Falls DistrictOWL
12 October 1992Equipment and vehicle use155 acresIdaho Falls DistrictWHITE OWL
16 August 2003Natural100 acresIdaho Falls DistrictGREEN
5 September 2012Equipment and vehicle use65 acresIdaho Falls DistrictPICKERING
11 November 1999Debris and open burning52 acresIdaho Falls DistrictPINCOCK
10 May 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined50 acresIdaho Falls DistrictWHITE OWL

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1955 to 2025

60 of 112 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 112 reports for this county, causing no deaths, no injuries and about $3,671,880 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Thunderstorm Wind50
Hail20
Flood13
Funnel Cloud7
Tornado6
Flash Flood6
Heavy Rain5
Lightning4
Wildfire1

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2018FloodEdmonds$1,280,000Extensive snow melt combines with heavy rains to create extensive sheet flooding problems in Madison County. 200 miles of county roads were washed out or damaged. the worst of it came on March 22nd with heavy rains over the county. The majority of the road damage was in the eastern part of the county. The state of Idaho declared Madison County a disaster area on March 19th. Damage estimates on mainly the roads by county officials exceeded one million dollars. Rocky Hollow road was destroyed.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindMoody$750,000Madison County Emergency management reported significant damage to electrical infrastructure. Multiple power poles snapped off and wired down along 2000 N between 5000 E and 9000 E in addition to estimates of 100 power poles downed across the area.
July 2014Flash FloodRexburg$600,000A thunderstorm dropped anywhere from 1 to 3 inches in the city of Rexburg. A single thunderstorm cell moved over the city and heavy rain began at around 5:30 pm MDT. Main Street was shut down with over a foot of running water on it. Businesses on Main Street suffered damage. 15 businesses on the south side of Main Street and south 2nd West received minor flood damage consisting of a few inches of water entering their businesses. ||The Hidden Valley neighborhood in northeast Rexburg had approximately 20 homes from a few inches in a basement up to a basement full in 2 of them. The Mill Hollow subdivision had 20 homes reported having water damage. A few homes had 1 to 3 feet of water in their basements. ||The BYU Idaho campus was hit hard by the flooding. Three-quarters of the buildings on campus had water in them. Apartments on campus had up to 6 feet of standing water in them. Birch Plaza and Birchwood Apartments were the worst hit on campus. Water was high enough that furniture was floating in the buildings. ||Total damages of the flooding were estimated at $600,000.
February 2006Flash FloodCountywide$357,000no account filed
May 2023Flash FloodRexburg$150,000Heavy rainfall in the range of 1 to 2 inches in less than two hours caused flash flooding in Rexburg with sandbagging occurring and several basements of homes occurring. Street flooding occurred with flooding along Yale Avenue and the Trejo and Mariah area.
February 2017FloodPlano$148,000The combination of very cold temperatures and extensive snowfall in December and January with a rapid warmup in February caused sheet flooding and some road damage throughout the county. The property damage in Madison County was very limited compared to other counties in the region.
April 2023FloodRexburg$100,000The beginning of snowmelt caused some flooding and county roads to wash away east of Rexburg. Madison County closed two roads due to wash out and one due to two mud slides near each other. The mud slides occurred on 6000 East. The roads are in largely agricultural areas. Few homes were in the areas and had secondary means of access to their properties. We also had a canal fill with water and the canal side fail. Water from this failure ran past a neighborhood, with little damage to driveways reported. Road damage was estimated at 100 thousand dollars.
May 2017FloodPlano$36,000Minor flooding continued through May in Madison County requiring road repairs with field flooding damaging agricultural crops and money required for levee repairs.
April 2018Thunderstorm WindRexburg$35,000Thunderstorm outflow winds caused damage in Madison County with the Emergency manager reporting costs of $35,000.
May 1984Tornado (F1)not stated$25,000no account filed
September 1959Tornado (F2)not stated$25,000no account filed
August 2024Thunderstorm WindSugar City$23,000Three power poles snapped off along E 2000 N. Photos received via social media.
August 2000LightningRexburg$20,000A lightning strike sparked a house fire that burned portions of the roof and ceiling.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindSugar City$17,000Multiple large trees snapped off at a residence including two pines estimated at over 2 feet in diameter. Power poles snapped off at base.
March 2017FloodPlano$15,000Minor flooding continued across Madison County in March with continued road damage and field flooding.
June 2017Flash FloodPlano$12,000Minor flooding continued through the first half of June in Madison County requiring road repairs with field flooding damaging agricultural crops and money required for levee repairs.
March 2025FloodThornton$10,000Madison County EM reported minor snowmelt flooding coming from an elevated bench area east of Thornton. The water was cascading down the hill, pooling into farm fields adjoining the neighborhoods and threatening to inundate homes. Sandbagging prevented further property damage to homes.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindRexburg$10,000Two power lines down with one caused by a large tree falling on it.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindHerbert$8,000Several trees downed in the Kelly Mountain area, Kelly Canyon Trail, and Kelly Canyon Resort. One trail was blocked.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindRexburg$8,000A tree fell down and damaged a house in Thornton. A shed on Teton Road in eastern Madison County was destroyed.
July 2004Flash FloodRexburg$8,000no account filed
June 2024Thunderstorm WindSugar City$5,000Sugar City mesonet measured a 72 mph wind gust. A house was damaged from a falling tree with powerlines on branches.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindMoody$5,000Madison County Sheriffs Office reported wires downed across the county with numerous power outages.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindThornton$5,000A large tree downed on a home in the 6000 W area southwest of Rexburg with significant damage to structure.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindSugar City$5,000Trained spotter reported shingles blowing off of a roof 5 miles west of Clementsville.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindHibbard$5,000no account filed
August 2024Thunderstorm WindHerbert$2,000Madison County Sheriffs Office reported E 8000 S closed at S 6200 E due to downed wires.
June 2011FloodRexburg$2,000The Henry's Fork near Rexburg was above flood stage from June 1st through June 30th with the exception of the period from June 4th through the morning of June 7th. Major flood stage was reached and crested at 11.85 feet on June 9th. Extensive flooding of agricultural and low lands occurred. Beaver Dick Park flooded, river access recreation areas flooded as did portions of county roads. Water covered a road in the Warm Slough Access to a depth of over one foot. Water flooded the crawl space to one home.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindSugar City$1,500Several reports of large tree limbs down from thunderstorm outflow winds with a fence also damaged.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindSugar City$1,000Numerous tree limbs down on Country Rd.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindArcher$1,000Thunderstorm winds felled a tree which fell on a power line starting a small wildfire.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindRexburg$1,000Thunderstorm winds caused power lines to arc and be damaged closing HIghway 33 near Rexburg from 7 pm to 9 pm MDT between 3000 and 4000 W.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindMoody$1,000no account filed
July 1973Tornado (F0)not stated$250no account filed
July 2025LightningPlano$100Lightning strikes caused a power outage near S 5500 W and W 1000 S near Plano.
August 1955Tornado (F1)not stated$30no account filed
June 2024Thunderstorm WindRexburg Mdsn Co Arpt-The Rexburg airport ASOS measured a 67 mph wind gust from thunderstorm outflow.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindHerbert-Rocky Mountain Power reported power outages northeast of Herbert due to thunderstorm winds.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindSugar City-Rocky Mountain Power reports over 160 customers without power southwest of Teton due to thunderstorm winds.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindParkinson-A 62 mph wind gust measured at PC141 Canyon Creek.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindHerbert-The Moody RAWS measured 58 mph wind gust.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindParkinson-A 64 mph wind gust measured at the Canyon Creek mesonet site.
May 2019Funnel CloudSugar City-Funnel cloud photographed from Sugar City.
May 2019Funnel CloudRexburg-Funnel cloud photographed in Rexburg.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindSugar City-Sugar City mesonet site recorded 58 mph wind gust.
June 2019Funnel CloudRexburg-Several funnels spotted with rotating wall cloud.
June 2019Funnel CloudRexburg-Funnel cloud seen over the Rexburg LDS temple.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindRexburg-A storm chaser estimated 60 mph wind gusts in Rexburg.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindThornton-Several large tree limbs and one large healthy tree snapped near Lyman-Union Road.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindArcher-A storm survey found several large cottonwood limbs removed from trees near Archer.
June 2018Flash FloodRexburg-Extremely heavy rain caused mud slides and flooding mainly across the Squired Dugway area. A lot of gravel roads suffered damage. The Squired Dugway area had three homes and several outbuildings damages with livestock threatened.
May 2018HailRexburg-One inch hail reported 4 miles west of Rexburg.
April 2017FloodPlano-Madison County declared a flood emergency. Action was taken to help mitigate river bank erosion. Erosion occurred due to the high runoff. Some flooding occurred 6 miles east of Lorenzo Highway near Twin Bridges. Over 300 truck loads of riprap rock was delivered to the Sunnydell irrigation canal along the Snake River upstream of Archer Road in the attempt at erosion mitigation. More work was done at the Roth location along the Heise-Roberts levee 1 mile upstream of the Lorenzo Bridge.
May 2016HailRexburg-One inch hail in Rexburg.
May 2016HailRexburg-Facebook photographs revealed 1.75 inch hail in Rexburg.
October 2016Thunderstorm WindSugar City-A 60 mph wind gust measured at Sugar City mesonet site.
October 2016Thunderstorm WindRexburg Mdsn Co Arpt-A 60 mph wind gust recorded at the Rexburg airport ASOS.
October 2016Thunderstorm WindThornton-Estimated 60 mph wind gust in Thornton with power flickering on and off.
May 2015Funnel CloudRexburg-Funnel cloud photographed near Rexburg at around 2 pm MDT.
July 2015Funnel CloudPlano-Pictures of funnel clouds received 1 mile northwest of Plano.

Mines and quarries

17 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 17 workings inside this county. 6 still produce and 11 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction8
Geothermal4
Limestone, General3
Phosphorus-Phosphates2
Petroleum (Oil)1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Grover, Grover, and Terry Phosphate DepositPhosphorus-Phosphates, Petroleum (Oil)Occurrence1917
Coalmine Creek Phosphate DepositPhosphorus-PhosphatesOccurrence
Green Canyon Tufa DepositLimestone, GeneralOccurrence
Limekiln Canyon Limestone MineLimestone, GeneralPast Producer1932
Morning Glory MineLimestone, GeneralPast ProducerLimestone
Elkhorn Warm SpringGeothermalOccurrence
Geothermal LocationGeothermalOccurrence
Pincock Hot SpringsGeothermalOccurrence
Village of NewdaleGeothermalProspect
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Walters Pit and PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Wilford PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every populated place in the county

24

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

The vanished settlements of Madison County: the places named above that are no longer on the map.

Provenance

  • Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
  • Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
  • Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
  • 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.