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Medicine Lodge, Kansas

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Medicine Lodge Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67104. It stands on Elm Creek. The Survey maps it on the Medicine Lodge quadrangle. 1,781 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,496 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Medicine Lodge within Barber County

On record in Medicine Lodge

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

Medicine Lodge fell from 2,009 to 1,781 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
20102,009
20201,781-228 (-11%)

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

4 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Medicine Lodge between 1994 and 2018, burning about 2,420 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
Smoking1

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
6 March 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined420 acresBarber CountyPIKE FIRE
27 March 2017Smokingunder an acreBarber County6
17 March 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKansas Forest Service8
14 March 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined2,000 acresBarber Countynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Barber 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 Medicine Lodge: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Gypsum-Anhydrite. 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
Medicine Lodge PlantGypsum-AnhydriteProducer

Every working recorded in Barber County

Storms near this place

60 of 148 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Medicine Lodge in 148 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 104 hail, 35 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 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 1998Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge$500,000Rear Flank Downdraft caused extensive damage to roofs, trees, power lines and sheds.
May 2019LightningMedicine Lodge$100,000A home was struck by lightning causing a fire. The resident received smoke inhalation was expired so this is an indirect death.
September 1998Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge$15,000Numerous trees were uprooted.
September 1998Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge$5,000Large tree toppled by the high wind.
April 2025HailMedicine Lodge-Picture of golf ball size hail sent via social media.
June 2025Heavy RainMedicine Lodge-A cocorahs report indicated 2.60 inches of rain fell.
June 2024Heavy RainMedicine Lodge-Rainfall report of 3.35 inches.
October 2024HailMedicine Lodge-Hail with diameters ranging from quarter size to golf ball size was reported by law enforcement.
August 2024HailMedicine Lodge-Hail the size of quarters was reported by the public.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-Half dollar sized hail was also observed with the wind.
May 2019Flash FloodMedicine Lodge-Street flooding.
October 2018Flash FloodMedicine Lodge-Several roads, including the city park, were under water from flooding.
May 2017Tornado (EF0)Medicine Lodge-There may have been some minor tree damage but was unable to locate due to road options.
September 2017FloodMedicine Lodge-Water was reported over a few of the roads.
September 2017FloodMedicine Lodge-There was significant street flooding.
April 2013HailMedicine Lodge-Hail up to the size of nickels covered the ground.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
April 2004Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-Four inch tree limbs broken
June 2001Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-Trees down.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-Severe trees blown down.
September 2000HailMedicine Lodge-Lasted five minutes.
May 2024HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
May 2024HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
April 2021HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2017Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
May 2017HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
August 2017HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
October 2017Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
May 2016HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
May 2016HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
May 2016HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2016Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2016Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
September 2016Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2014Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
August 2013Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
August 2011Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
August 2011Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
May 2010HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
April 2009Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
August 2009Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
April 2009HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2008HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2008HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
July 2008HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
October 2007HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
April 2006HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
May 2006HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
May 2006HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindMedicine Lodge-no account filed
April 2005HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2005HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2005HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2005HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed
June 2005HailMedicine Lodge-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Barber 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
Pixley4.1 miles14
Mingona6.5 miles14
Forest City8.5 miles14
Sharon8.8 miles15
Gerlane9.0 miles14
Elm Mills12.0 miles14
Isabel12.9 miles14
Lake City13.7 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 Medicine LodgeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1001733The 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 470446. 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.