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Halstead, Kansas

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Halstead City. It lies in ZIP code area 67056. It stands on Black Kettle Creek. The Survey maps it on the Halstead quadrangle. 2,179 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,391 feet above sea level.

Halstead within Harvey County

On record in Halstead

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 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Halstead grew from 2,085 to 2,179 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
20102,085
20202,179+94 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 15 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

35 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 35 fires within 5 miles of Halstead between 2015 and 2020, burning about 85 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were 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 burning13
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Equipment and vehicle use4
Arson/incendiarism2
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony1

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
27 September 2017Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresHarvey County18218
3 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresHarvey County93
23 July 2015Smokingunder an acreKansas Forest Service236
8 June 2020Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresKansas Forest Servicenot named
24 June 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreHarvey County83
23 June 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreHarvey County191
16 June 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKansas Forest Servicenot named
8 April 2020Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresKansas Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Harvey County

Storms near this place

60 of 81 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Halstead in 81 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 40 hail, 34 thunderstorm wind, 3 heavy rain, 2 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
May 2007FloodHalstead$1,000,000Numerous, slow-moving thunderstorms produced 4 to 6 inches of rain across extreme northwest portions of Harvey County from the late afternoon hours on May 23rd, to the early morning hours on May 24th. Excessive runoff from this as well as heavy rainfall upstream across central Kansas caused the Little Arkansas River to flood. Several roads along the Little Arkansas were closed, and some homes and businesses received various magnitudes of flood damage. The Little Arkansas reached record flood stage at Halstead around midday on the 25th, forcing the community to close all three flood gates. Public and private damages suffered across the 7 townships affected were likely around $1 million.
May 2009Thunderstorm WindHalstead$177,500Extensive damage occurred across town with numerous large trees down and power poles down. Some roof, fence and vehicle damage was also reported across town from winds estimated between 70 and 80 mph. A local plant had a large door torn from its rail and railroad crossing arms on Main street were damaged. Nearly 500 homes lost power from the storm.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindHalstead$167,500Damaging winds estimated around 60 mph caused damage along a path from Halstead to Hesston. Some local businesses in Hesston sustained roof damage. One building had 25 percent of roof ripped away. A nearby business also received damage. Numerous tree limbs were also knocked down in both towns. Homes north and west of Halstead also received serious damage, including destroying a 25 year old barn, and a 100 year old grove of Catalpa trees at one homestead. The damage path was almost a 100 yards wide, snapping poles, overturning grain bins and damaging irrigation pivots along its path.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindHalstead$100,000Widespread tree damage, including many uprooted. One tree, snapping in half at the base, fell onto a garage smashing the roof to "within inches" of a car parked inside. A large tree limb fell onto the northeast corner of a second house inflicting damage to the roof as well as to a fifth wheel trailer parked along side. Two other homes also had large branches and/or uprooted trees fall onto them. One fallen tree punched a hole in the roof of a Mennonite church.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindHalstead$25,000A bow echo moved across Harvey County producing wind damage from west of Halstead to several miles east of Newton. The Newton Airport AWOS recorded a 71 mph wind gust. A semi truck was flipped on Interstate 135 just south of Newton.
August 2019HailHalstead$20,000Hail of quarter to golf ball size fell in Halstead, damaging car windows.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindHalstead$20,000Power lines and tree damage occurred in Halstead from damaging winds. Damage was also reported to railroad crossing gates.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindHalstead$15,000Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions suffered storm damage from estimated 60 mph winds, but the severity of the damage is unknown. Consequently, property damage amounts are rough estimates. A power pole was also downed over southwest Harvey County, but the exact location is unknown. Information courtesy of the Newton Kansan.
August 2019HailHalstead$10,000Photo from social media showed quarter size hail and a large portion of a tree down in Halstead.
March 2000Thunderstorm WindHalstead$10,000Several power lines blown down.
August 1999Thunderstorm WindHalstead$10,000Major tree damage with one shed damaged.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindHalstead$5,000A report from social media, showed tree branches down and penny size hail in Halstead.
March 2000Thunderstorm WindHalstead$5,000A 20 by 35 foot machine shed was totally destroyed.
March 1993HailHalstead$5,000no account filed
June 1994Thunderstorm WindHalstead$500no account filed
July 1994Thunderstorm WindHalstead$500no account filed
April 2025HailHalstead-A social media report of half dollar sized hail.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindHalstead-A large tree was knocked down. Winds estimated by surrounding reports.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindHalstead-A large tree was knocked down at Burmac and 84th Road.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindHalstead-A railroad crossing arm was snapped with a police officer estimating 75mph wind gusts in Halstead.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindHalstead-This wind gust was estimated along with tennis ball sized hail.
September 2025HailHalstead-Wind gusts up to 60 mph were also reported.
September 2025HailHalstead-Golfball sized hail covering most of the ground.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Powerlines were reported down along with some tree damage in the city of Halstead.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Winds five miles northwest of Halstead were initially estimated to be around 60 mph by a trained spotter. Stronger winds were estimated in town with extensive straight line wind damage including several trees downed, parts of roofs and outbuildings damaged based on a storm survey. The most severe damage was on the west side of town to an outbuilding which had collapsed doors ultimately leading to some damage to the roof and wall of the structure.
August 2023Heavy RainHalstead-Rainfall in the past 24hours of 2.40 inches.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Tree trunk nearly snapped. Health of tree unknown and of unknown size. Delayed report, time estimated by radar.
November 2022Heavy RainHalstead-A Cocorahs observer reported 2.62 inches of rainfall.
June 2022HailHalstead-Ping pong ball sized hail and significant tree limbs were reported down.
June 2022HailHalstead-Reported from Mping.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Reported from Mping.
June 2022Heavy RainHalstead-A trained spotter 4 miles northwest of Halstead reported 1.86 inches of rainfall.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindHalstead-A mesonet site near Halstead had a 58 mph wind gust.
May 2020HailHalstead-Report was relayed via Mping.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Multiple trees downed or uprooted. One tree fell onto a car and power poles were snapped which caused power outages. This was a delayed report. The time of the event was estimated based on radar.
August 2019HailHalstead-Hail up to quarter size and winds up to 50 mph were reported in Halstead.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Gusts were estimated from 50-60 mph along with dime-sized hail.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Fourteen to sixteen inch tree limbs were broken off.
March 2017HailHalstead-Most of the hail was pea to dime-sized, but a few were quarter-sized.
March 2017HailHalstead-There were numerous reports of golf ball-sized hail in Halstead.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Several 2 to 4 inch tree limbs were blown out of trees.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Pea to quarter sized hail was also reported.
June 2016HailHalstead-Report was via twitter.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindHalstead-A trained spotter measured the gust.
December 2015Flash FloodHalstead-Rapidly running water was rushing across the road at the merger of Emma east and Emma west creeks.
July 2013FloodHalstead-Halstead and Ridge Roads were flooded between Halstead to Hesston with some stalled cars reported.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Reported by trained spotter.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Reported by trained spotter.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Winds were estimated around 60 mph.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindHalstead-Downed limbs.
May 1995Tornado (F0)Halstead-Brief tornado touched down on Harvey and Sedgwick County lines.
September 2025HailHalstead-no account filed
April 2024HailHalstead-no account filed
April 2023HailHalstead-no account filed
March 2017HailHalstead-no account filed
May 2017HailHalstead-no account filed
March 2017HailHalstead-no account filed
June 2016HailHalstead-no account filed
June 2016HailHalstead-no account filed
May 2014HailHalstead-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Harvey 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
Van Arsdale4.3 miles15
Paxton4.5 miles15
Putnam6.8 miles15
Sedgwick7.4 miles15
McGraw7.5 miles16
Sand Creek7.7 miles16
Burrton8.7 miles14
Patterson8.7 miles14

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 HalsteadAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1871700The 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 473677. 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.

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.