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Ellsworth, Kansas

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Ellsworth Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67439. The Survey maps it on the Ellsworth quadrangle. 3,066 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,539 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Ellsworth within Ellsworth County

On record in Ellsworth

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 5 records

Population over time

2 figures

Ellsworth fell from 3,120 to 3,066 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
20103,120
20203,066-54 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 14 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.

Fires near this place

14 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Ellsworth between 2015 and 2020, burning about 156 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/undetermined10
Equipment and vehicle use2
Debris and open burning1
Fireworks1

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
10 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresKansas Forest Service78
12 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresKansas Forest Service74
11 July 2015Fireworksunder an acreKansas Forest Service61
12 June 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service53
8 March 2015Equipment and vehicle use15 acresKansas Forest Service23
25 March 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined50 acresKansas Forest Service38
22 March 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service37
21 March 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service36

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Ellsworth County

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 Ellsworth: 1 producer. All of them 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
Bates Sand Pit & PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Ellsworth County

Storms near this place

60 of 216 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ellsworth in 216 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 104 hail, 76 thunderstorm wind, 12 flash flood, 10 tornado. 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
May 2007Flash FloodEllsworth$4,500,000Numerous, slow-moving thunderstorms produced widespread 4 to 7 inch rainfall amounts across primarily the southeastern three-quarters of Ellsworth County from the late afternoon hours on May 23rd, to the early morning hours on May 24th. This caused widespread countywide flash flooding. Several rural and city roads were closed due to high water, and several roads countywide were damaged. Numerous homes and businesses received various magnitudes of flood damage. Some evacuations were needed along area rivers and streams, as well as along portions of Kanopolis Reservoir. Thankfully there were no injuries. Combined public and private damages were likely around $4-5 million.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$125,000Amateur radio tower toppled. Back trailer of a truck pulling two horse trailers overturned on I-70.
July 2011HailEllsworth$100,000Golfball to tennis ball size hail affected Ellsworth. The only reported damage included windows broken out near the Ellsworth golf course. However, other hail damage not reported likely occurred, especially to area roofs and vehicles. Therefore, property damage amounts are rough estimates.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$100,000Hospital, under construction, sustained extensive damage when 750 feet of metal frame was blown down.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$50,000KSN Weatherlab. Widespread tree damage resulted, including two large trees that were uprooted and fell onto one house and one trailer home. Area newspapers contributed to this report.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$50,000Damage from thunderstorm winds included eight power poles down, numerous limbs down and a golf cart shed was upended and carried out into a field.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$45,000Tractor trailer overturned with considerable damage to trailer resulting.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$35,000Pickup truck and camper were blown off of the highway.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$30,000The roof of Home Lumber and Supply in Ellsworth was ripped off by the strong winds. A large portion of the roof damaged a nearby pickup truck. Pieces of the roof also hit a primary power line and snapped a transformer pole. In addition, several tree limbs were downed across the city. Information courtesy of the Ellsworth Independent Reporter.
June 2008HailEllsworth$19,400A homestead suffered severe damage from baseball to softball sized hail. The hail damaged 22 windowpanes and also killed 10 calves and chickens. Numerous farm fields were also flattened by the hail, destroying almost mature wheat.
May 1999Tornado (F0)Ellsworth$11,000Several steel plates 3 feet X 20 feet were blown more than 100 feet, the Ellsworth Service Center was damaged, and several trees were blown down.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$10,000A fireworks stand was leveled. The narrative is courtesy of the Ellsworth County Independent Reporter.
April 2008Heavy RainEllsworth$10,000A 53-year old man lost control of his motorcycle during a heavy rainstorm while driving on Interstate 70 one mile west of the K-156 junction. He was taken to Ellsworth hospital with disabling injuries. Information courtesy of the Great Bend Tribune.
September 2006Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$10,000Tree limbs were downed onto power lines which caused power outages in Ellsworth. In addition, the courthouse lost a storm window, a parking sign was blown down, and a small section of the city hall roof was damaged, allowing water into the gymnasium.
April 2001Tornado (F0)Ellsworth$10,000Occurred at I-70/K-14 interchange just south of Ellsworth/Lincoln county line. Although the tornado remained in open country, two sheds were damaged and a few trees were uprooted.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$10,000Trees and power lines downed.
May 1998HailEllsworth$10,000Windows broken in an area near Wilson.
May 1998Tornado (F1)Ellsworth$10,000Extensive damage to farm outbuildings, trucks and a camper.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$6,250The remaining 50 feet of the metal frame of a hospital under construction were blown down. (This was the same hospital that sustained extensive damage from the severe thunderstorm event of 05/11/98.)
June 2008HailEllsworth$5,000Two inch diameter hail broke windows across the town.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$2,000Several decent size tree branches were reported down in town.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindEllsworth$500A couple of three to four inch tree limbs were knocked down.
June 2022Flash FloodEllsworth$100Flash flooding was reported over Kansas Highway 14 just south of Interstate 70.
June 2022Flash FloodEllsworth$100Law enforcement reported flooding over Kansas Highway 14 just south of Interstate 70.
May 2015FloodEllsworth$100Reports of low lying roads being flooded in Ellsworth.
August 2013Flash FloodEllsworth$100Highway 14 was closed north of Ellsworth due to very high water flowing across the road.
September 2025Flash FloodEllsworth-Northeast Main Street is closed in Ellsworth due to water over the road.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-Wind gusts were estimated to be around 60 mph with torrential rainfall.
May 2024FloodEllsworth-Water over the roadway at Kansas Highway 14 and Avenue D.
May 2024HailEllsworth-Nickel to quarter sized hail fell in Ellsworth.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-Trained spotter reported an estimated 60 mph wind gust with an eight inch tree limb down.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-Trained spotter estimated winds over 80 mph in Ellsworth. Large tree limbs were down. Law enforcement reported power outages in Ellsworth.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-Spotters in Ellsworth estimated wind gusts up to 65 mph. There were also images on social media of large tree branches down in Ellsworth.
April 2023HailEllsworth-This was reported via social media.
June 2023Heavy RainEllsworth-Twenty four hour total of a Cocorahs observer of 1.37 inches.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-This was a measured wind gust.
August 2023Heavy RainEllsworth-Rain fall total 24 hours of 1.71 inches.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-This was a measured wind gust.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-This was a measured wind gust.
July 2022Heavy RainEllsworth-A Cocorahs observer reported 1.68 inches from the storm.
May 2021HailEllsworth-The hail was nickel to ping pong ball size along Interstate 70.
May 2021FloodEllsworth-Nuisance amounts of water were reported over sections of Highway 14 just north of Ellsoworth.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-This was a measured gust.
May 2020Flash FloodEllsworth-Kansas Highway 14 between mile markers 162 and 164 was closed due to water flowing over the road. Roads in the south part of Ellsworth were reported to be flooded as well.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-Report via MPING of tree limbs broken and shingles blown off.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-Spotter reported a rapidly rotating wall cloud to the northwest from his location as well.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-A couple power poles were downed.
August 2019FloodEllsworth-A few typically flood prone areas were flooded across the county.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-The winds were measured at Ellsworth Airport.
July 2018FloodEllsworth-Water was reported over highway 14 and was not causing a major issue.
May 2018Tornado (EF0)Ellsworth-The supercell thunderstorms produced a brief tornado touchdown in an open field.
April 2017HailEllsworth-Reported at 9th and Old Highway 40 West of Ellsworth.
May 2016HailEllsworth-Estimated winds of 70 mph were also reported.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-No damage was reported.
April 2016HailEllsworth-No damage was reported.
August 2016FloodEllsworth-Flooding was widespread across the county.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-A 58-mph gust was measured at Ellsworth Airport. The time of the gust was corrected.
December 2016Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-Measured by the Ellsworth Airport AWOS.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-Sporadic instances of tree limbs were reported down across town.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindEllsworth-Estimated wind speed from a trained spotter.

Every storm recorded in Ellsworth 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
Kanopolis4.0 miles14
Black Wolf7.4 miles14
Midway9.2 miles15
Carneiro10.5 miles14
Lorraine12.1 miles14
Frantz (historical)12.4 miles15
Yankee Run12.5 miles14
Holyrood13.9 miles13

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 EllsworthAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q180666The 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 475460. 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.

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.