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Little River, Kansas

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Union Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67457. It stands on Horse Creek. The Survey maps it on the Little River quadrangle. 472 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,608 feet above sea level.

Little River within Rice County

On record in Little River

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Little River fell from 557 to 472 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
2010557
2020472-85 (-15%)

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

3 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Little River between 2012 and 2018, burning about 1,202 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/undetermined3

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
24 July 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1,200 acresKansas CountiesSUICIDE HILL
3 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresKansas Forest Service25
9 March 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service5

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Rice County

Storms near this place

46 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Little River in 46 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 23 hail, 16 thunderstorm wind, 4 heavy rain, 3 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
May 2019Flash FloodLittle River$100,000There were reports of numerous vehicles driving into flooded roadways and becoming submerged.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindLittle River$12,000A semi-trailer was blown over on Highway 56.
July 2013HailLittle River$10,000The baseball-sized hail damaged trees and cracked windshields.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindLittle River$500Three inch tree limbs down and torrential rain.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindLittle River$200A 2-foot diameter tree was uprooted and a golf cart was picked up and thrown into a field.
May 2019Flash FloodLittle River$100Numerous roads were reported flooded throughout the county.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindLittle River-Measured from the Kansas State Mesonet site near Little River.
June 2024HailLittle River-Broadcast media (KWCH TV) relayed picture from the public of ping-pong ball sized hail.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindLittle River-Kansas State mesonet site. Winds associated with outflow winds.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindLittle River-Wind gust was measured by a Kansas State Mesonet site about 2 miles west of Little River.
April 2022HailLittle River-Hail that ranged from pea to half dollar sized was reported along with 60 mph winds.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindLittle River-This was an estimated wind gust. Hail size of pea to half dollar was also reported.
June 2020Heavy RainLittle River-Rainfall for the previous 24 hours was 3.2 inches.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindLittle River-There were no reports of damage.
May 2019HailLittle River-The spotter also measured a 43-knot gust.
August 2019Flash FloodLittle River-Water was reported over numerous roads with many being impassable.
August 2019Heavy RainLittle River-This was a 24 hour total.
August 2019Heavy RainLittle River-This was a 24 hour total.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindLittle River-Reported via trained spotter.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindLittle River-Winds were estimated around 60 mph.
June 2009Heavy RainLittle River-Trained spotter measured 3 inches of rainfall.
September 1998HailLittle River-Eightteen head of cattle were killed.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindLittle River-no account filed
May 2019HailLittle River-no account filed
May 2017HailLittle River-no account filed
July 2016HailLittle River-no account filed
May 2014HailLittle River-no account filed
July 2013HailLittle River-no account filed
July 2013HailLittle River-no account filed
July 2013HailLittle River-no account filed
September 2006HailLittle River-no account filed
April 2005HailLittle River-no account filed
May 2005HailLittle River-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindLittle River-no account filed
April 2002HailLittle River-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindLittle River-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindLittle River-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindLittle River-no account filed
September 2001HailLittle River-no account filed
September 2001HailLittle River-no account filed
September 2001HailLittle River-no account filed
June 2000HailLittle River-no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindLittle River-no account filed
September 2000HailLittle River-no account filed
June 1998HailLittle River-no account filed
June 1995HailLittle River-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Rice 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
Mitchell4.8 miles15
Galt6.0 miles15
Crawford8.0 miles14
Saxman10.1 miles14
Lyons10.7 miles14
Pollard11.1 miles14
Geneseo11.2 miles15
Frederick15.7 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 Little RiverAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2050543The 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 475684. 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.