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Napoleon, Indiana

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Jackson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 47037. The Survey maps it on the Osgood quadrangle. 236 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 965 feet above sea level.

Napoleon within Ripley County

On record in Napoleon

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Napoleon grew from 234 to 236 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010234
2020236+2 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Napoleon: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Napoleon QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Ripley County

Storms near this place

54 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Napoleon in 54 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 25 thunderstorm wind, 11 flood, 9 flash flood, 7 hail. 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
March 2025Tornado (EF0)Napoleon$150,000Damage from the tornado was first noted west of North County Road 600 West, where trees, outbuildings, and one home were damaged. As the tornado continued northeast toward Napoleon, a few outbuildings were damaged south of West County Road 850 North. The final damage from the tornado was observed along North Old Michigan Road directly south of Napoleon, where it is believed to have dissipated.
February 2014Tornado (EF1)Napoleon$100,000The tornado first touched down near a mobile home on North Finks Road just north of West County Road 700 North. The mobile home was moved up to 15 feet off its foundation and in the process this knocked down two brick walls that were two feet high. Windows were blown out on three sides of the mobile home. Major roof damage also occurred to the home. Insulation from this mobile home covered the east facing side of the structure, indicating strong rotating winds. Two small trees were snapped east of the home. Based on the damage surveyed, this portion of the tornado path had maximum estimated wind speeds of 90 miles per hour. Just before the tornado lifted, two pole barns were damaged. The southeast corner of the first barn completely collapsed. Some siding was missing on all four sides of this barn. The second barn, located just south of the first barn, had 20 to 30 percent of the roof missing and 10 to 20 percent of the siding missing on three of its sides. On the south side of this barn, up to 40 percent of the siding was missing. The damage surveyed along this portion of the track was indicative of an EF0 tornado with 70 mile per hour winds.
August 2009Flash FloodNapoleon$30,000High water was over United States Route 421 in addition to county roads in the area.
April 1996Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$30,000no account filed
May 2011Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$25,000A barn was destroyed and numerous trees were reported down due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$20,000Winds estimated to be 60-70 mph caused numerous trees and power lines to be downed. Dime size hail also fell around Napoleon.
April 2006HailNapoleon$15,000Golf ball to hen egg size hail fell across the northwest part of the county.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$10,000A barn was damaged on County Road 800 North.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$10,000Power poles were downed. Part of a roof was peeled off a home on Baseline Road.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$8,000Multiple trees were downed across a roadway. Additionally, the trees knocked down several power lines.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$8,000Several power poles were downed along U.S. 421 near the Decatur County line.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$8,000Three barn doors were blown off in addition to numerous large tree limbs and trees that were blown down due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
May 2006HailNapoleon$8,000no account filed
April 2022Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$5,000Several barns sustained roof and siding damage along North County Road 250 West.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$5,000A power pole and wires were downed.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$5,000Numerous trees were downed.
November 2017Flash FloodNapoleon$5,000High water was reported in some homes and numerous roads were flooded.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$5,000Trees were downed across the northern part of the county.
April 2000Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$5,000Numerous trees knocked down.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$5,000Trees downed.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$5,000no account filed
May 2024Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$4,000A power pole was snapped near McCluer Cemetery.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$4,000A few trees were downed.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$4,000A power pole and wires were downed at the intersection of Main Street and North County Road 300 West.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$3,000Trees were reported down on a road in Napoleon due to thunderstorm winds.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$3,000Many trees knocked down.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$3,000Trees downed.
April 2017HailNapoleon$2,000Glass in a greenhouse was shattered by hail, estimated to be golf ball size.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$2,000Several trees were knocked down in the Napoleon area.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$1,000A tree was downed near Finks Road and County Road 700 North.
October 2017FloodNapoleon$1,000A van became trapped in high water along County Road 900 W, and a water rescue was performed.
October 2017FloodNapoleon$1,000A vehicle became trapped in high water. The vehicle needed to be towed out of the water.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$1,000A large tree was downed near the intersection of Old Michigan Road and W County Road 650 N.
May 2014Thunderstorm WindNapoleon$1,000One tree and one tree limb were knocked down by a thunderstorm wind gust.
December 2011FloodNapoleon$1,000Several roads across the county were reported closed due to high water caused by heavy rain.
June 2010FloodNapoleon$1,000High water was reported due to heavy rainfall.
June 2010Flash FloodNapoleon$1,000Roads were closed due to heavy rainfall.
February 2025FloodNapoleon-Old Michigan Road was flooded over with standing water.
June 2025FloodNapoleon-High water was reported on State Route 421 near County Road 850 N.
July 2024FloodNapoleon-High water was reported on a roadway.
March 2023FloodNapoleon-Several roads were closed throughout the county due to high water.
June 2021FloodNapoleon-High water was reported on numerous roads between Napoleon and Osgood.
June 2021Flash FloodNapoleon-Several inches of water were flowing across U.S. Route 421 in Napoleon.
June 2019FloodNapoleon-Water was reported over a portion of Milhousen Road.
June 2017Flash FloodNapoleon-Water was reported flowing across U.S. 421.
October 2017FloodNapoleon-High water was reported along several roads in the Napoleon area with several low lying areas impassable. There were no reports of roads that were closed.
September 2016Flash FloodNapoleon-Over 2 feet of water was over a road in downtown Napoleon. Several roads elsewhere across the county were also impassable due to high water.
August 2016Flash FloodNapoleon-High water was reported across Michigan Road near Napoleon.
August 2016Flash FloodNapoleon-A volunteer fire department posted pictures of flooding on their property. Rain was also ponding on U.S. 421 towards Osgood.
July 2003Flash FloodNapoleon-Numerous roads were flooded and closed.
April 2017HailNapoleon-no account filed
July 2012HailNapoleon-no account filed
April 2006HailNapoleon-no account filed
June 1994HailNapoleon-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ripley County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Laugheryville2.4 miles11
Ballstown5.6 miles13
Osgood5.6 miles11
Otter Village5.9 miles9
Laughery Switch6.1 miles11
Lookout6.6 miles11
Cross Roads7.0 miles13
Allen Crossing7.0 miles9

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on NapoleonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2423375The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 439935. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.