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Longton, Kansas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Longton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67352. It stands on Hitchen Creek. The Survey maps it on the Longton quadrangle. 288 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 922 feet above sea level.

Longton within Elk County

Population over time

2 figures

Longton fell from 348 to 288 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
2010348
2020288-60 (-17%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 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

37 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 37 fires within 5 miles of Longton between 2015 and 2020, burning about 2,672 acres in total. None started naturally. 9 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 burning16
Missing data/not specified/undetermined11
Arson/incendiarism9
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
29 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresElk County17066
25 July 2017Debris and open burning10 acresElk County17064
10 June 2017Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresElk County17058
9 May 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreKansas Forest Servicenot named
3 May 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresKansas Forest Service1500066
6 April 2017Debris and open burning150 acresElk County17044
5 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresKansas Forest Service1838
30 April 2018Debris and open burning80 acresKansas Forest Service1864

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Elk County

Storms near this place

46 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Longton in 46 storm reports between 2000 and 2026: 17 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 8 heavy rain, 4 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 2009Thunderstorm WindLongton$180,000An estimated 80 mph winds knocked down 6 barns, and broke several trees.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindLongton$8,000The destructive winds tore off part of a roof from a home.
September 2019Tornado (EF1)Longton$5,000There was some roof damage to a home and an outbuilding was shifted from its foundation. There was also some damage to chicken coops. The time of the event was estimated.
May 2009FloodLongton$500Water was covering Highway 160 east to Oak Valley Road.
July 2010Flash FloodLongton$100Heavy rainfall of 5 to 6 inches closed portions of Highway 160 from Grenola to Longton. The town of Howard reported 4.70 inches of rainfall. The worse flooding along Highway 160 was near Oak Valley.
July 2010Flash FloodLongton$100Numerous rural roads were flooded over the eastern half of the county. Highway 160 was closed near Oak Valley.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindLongton$100Tree limbs were downed by the strong winds.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindLongton-Wind gusts were estimated to be around 60 mph.
April 2024Tornado (EF0)Longton-Law enforcement officer sent in pictures of tree damage that occurred in eastern Elk County.
February 2024Heavy RainLongton-This is a 24 hour rainfall total of 1.44 inches.
May 2024Heavy RainLongton-Twenty four hour rainfall from COOP observer of 2.46 inches. This heavy rain resulted in some flooding of Highway 160 on the west side of town.
April 2024Heavy RainLongton-Observer measured 6.9 inches of rain in the last 24 hours in Longton. Flooding was reported across the county with water flowing over multiple roadways including United States Highway 160.
October 2024Thunderstorm WindLongton-A trained spotter estimated 60 mph winds and had pea sized hail.
May 2022Heavy RainLongton-A Coop observer in Longton, Kansas, reported a 24 hour rainfall total of 5.43 inches.
June 2022Heavy RainLongton-A Coop observer in Longton reported 3.43 inches of rainfall in 24 hours.
June 2022Heavy RainLongton-A public observer 15 miles northwest of Longton reported 6 to 7 inches of rainfall.
June 2022Heavy RainLongton-A Coop observer in Longton reported 2.42 inches of rainfall in 24 hours.
July 2020HailLongton-The picture was sent over from KAKE TV. The image showed the hail being just slightly smaller than a baseball.
July 2020HailLongton-Reported along highway 160 near the Montgomery and Elk county lines.
June 2019Heavy RainLongton-This is a 24 hour total.
September 2019Tornado (EFU)Longton-This was a brief event that caused no damage.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindLongton-Also had half inch diameter hail with the wind.
May 2015FloodLongton-Reports of minor street flooding was noted at many low water crossings across the county.
June 2014Flash FloodLongton-Highway 160 was flooded near Oak Valley.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindLongton-Tree limbs of 4 to 5 inches in diameter were scattered across town.
July 2008FloodLongton-Highway 160 near Oak Valley was barricaded due to water over the road.
June 2007Flash FloodLongton-Flash flooding was reported on highway 160 between Longton and Moline. There were several reports of 4 to 5 inch rainfall amounts during this time.
September 2005Tornado (F0)Longton-No damage reported.
April 2026HailLongton-no account filed
July 2025HailLongton-no account filed
April 2024HailLongton-no account filed
May 2019HailLongton-no account filed
May 2018HailLongton-no account filed
June 2011HailLongton-no account filed
November 2008HailLongton-no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindLongton-no account filed
June 2007Thunderstorm WindLongton-no account filed
June 2007HailLongton-no account filed
June 2007HailLongton-no account filed
June 2007HailLongton-no account filed
June 2007HailLongton-no account filed
April 2006Funnel CloudLongton-no account filed
April 2004HailLongton-no account filed
April 2004HailLongton-no account filed
May 2002HailLongton-no account filed
February 2000HailLongton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Elk 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
Oak Valley4.4 miles13
Upola5.1 miles16
Elk Falls5.8 miles13
Busby6.6 miles13
Cave Springs11.0 miles19
Howard11.6 miles13
Moline11.9 miles13
Fiat13.1 miles19

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 LongtonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2176688The 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 469856. 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.