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Valley Falls, Kansas

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1960. It stands in Delaware Township. It lies in ZIP code area 66088. It stands on Peter Creek. The Survey maps it on the Valley Falls quadrangle. 1,092 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 942 feet above sea level.

Valley Falls within Jefferson County

On record in Valley Falls

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

Valley Falls fell from 1,192 to 1,092 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
20101,192
20201,092-100 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 19 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

10 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Valley Falls between 2003 and 2016, burning about 427 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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/undetermined5
Debris and open burning4
Arson/incendiarism1

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 2014Arson/incendiarismunder an acreHorton AgencyPLAYGROUND
5 March 2016Debris and open burning300 acresKansas Forest Service54
31 March 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresJefferson Countynot named
31 March 2005Debris and open burning35 acresJefferson Countynot named
19 March 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresJefferson Countynot named
19 March 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined60 acresJefferson Countynot named
19 March 2007Debris and open burning16 acresHorton AgencySNEAKY LONG FIRE
18 March 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresJefferson Countynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jefferson County

Storms near this place

60 of 72 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Valley Falls in 72 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 32 hail, 31 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 3 funnel cloud. 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
July 1994Thunderstorm WindValley Falls$50,000High winds, estimated to 90 mph, caused widespread damage to trees, power lines and some buildings across the county.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindValley Falls$50,000High winds ripped part of the roof off a rural Valley Falls home.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindValley Falls$5,000Strong winds blew the siding off a house.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindValley Falls$3,000Strong winds did minor damage to outbuildings and trees.
September 1999Thunderstorm WindValley Falls$2,000Strong winds damaged several outbuildings.
April 2012Thunderstorm WindValley Falls$1,000A speed limit sign was blown over, and 6-8 inch tree limbs were broken. A weather vane was blown off of a roof near Valley Falls.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindValley Falls$1,000A building was damaged south of Valley Falls by strong winds.
March 2024HailValley Falls-Quarter size hail northeast of Valley Falls relayed by emergency manager.
August 2024FloodValley Falls-Flood waters from Cedar Creek overflowing Finney Road north of Valley Falls from 166th 174 Road. Water was estimated to be 4-5 feet deep.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Fire chief estimated 70 mph wind gusts near Valley Falls.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Time estimated from radar. Large tree limb fell on roof of house and three cars parked near the home.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Report of a 24 inch diameter tree split in half.
March 2022Tornado (EF1)Valley Falls-National Weather Service surveyed the area and found a intermittent narrow damage path to outbuildings and a few structures. Maximum winds estimated to around 97 mph based on the damage indicators and degree of damage. This was an EF1 tornado. No injuries occurred due to this tornado.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Report from mping of three inch tree limbs down and power poles broken.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Public report of 75 mph wind gust.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Report of 70 mph wind gust.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Mesonet station fw2032 valley falls.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Widespread tree branches 6 to 12 inches in diameter were reported down. A healthy 18 inch diameter tree and barn were blown over. Power lines were also reported down with power out in the city of Valley Falls.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Small buildings destroyed and power lines blown down in Valley Falls.
September 2010Flash FloodValley Falls-Law enforcement reported water over the road at K4 and 138th Road.
May 2008Flash FloodValley Falls-Water was reported over several roadways in the Valley Falls area. The cooperative observer located three miles southwest of Valley Falls reported 3.76 inches of rain as of 6:10am CST. The intersection of 142nd and K-4 had an estimated 6 inches of water over the roadway. Blue Mound Road north of K-16 was closed because of high water over the roadway. The Delaware River on the north side of Valley Falls was running two feet out of it's banks. A roadway near the intersection of Coal Creek Road and 170th was covered with one and a half feet of water.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Live tree limbs around 4 inches in diameter broken off. Spotter estimated the 70 mph wind speeds.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Spotters relayed reports through Emergency Manager.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-A 50 foot tall tree was reported to have fallen onto a house. Some barn damage noted, and power lines were blown down.
May 2007Funnel CloudValley Falls-Numerous reports of this funnel cloud.
May 2007Funnel CloudValley Falls-Several reports of this funnel cloud.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-Large tree blown down in the city.
May 2003Funnel CloudValley Falls-A funnel cloud was seen near Valley Falls.
June 2001FloodValley Falls-Heavy rains caused water to overflow roads for a brief time.
April 2026HailValley Falls-no account filed
June 2024HailValley Falls-no account filed
August 2019HailValley Falls-no account filed
May 2017HailValley Falls-no account filed
May 2017HailValley Falls-no account filed
April 2014HailValley Falls-no account filed
October 2014HailValley Falls-no account filed
May 2014HailValley Falls-no account filed
November 2013HailValley Falls-no account filed
April 2011HailValley Falls-no account filed
June 2010HailValley Falls-no account filed
June 2010HailValley Falls-no account filed
May 2008Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-no account filed
March 2006HailValley Falls-no account filed
March 2006HailValley Falls-no account filed
March 2006HailValley Falls-no account filed
April 2006HailValley Falls-no account filed
April 2006HailValley Falls-no account filed
April 2005HailValley Falls-no account filed
June 2005HailValley Falls-no account filed
June 2004Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-no account filed
March 2003HailValley Falls-no account filed
March 2003HailValley Falls-no account filed
March 2003HailValley Falls-no account filed
June 2003HailValley Falls-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindValley Falls-no account filed
May 2002HailValley Falls-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jefferson 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
Half Mound4.7 miles20
Boyle5.7 miles20
Lake Shore7.2 miles22
Dunavant7.3 miles20
Ozawkie7.6 miles22
Rock Creek7.9 miles19
Nortonville8.4 miles20
Indian Ridge8.7 miles22

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 Valley FallsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1944959The 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 478332. 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.