Wakefield, Kansas
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Republican Township. It stands on Timber Creek. The Survey maps it on the Wakefield quadrangle. 858 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,142 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Wakefield
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
- Auld Stone Barnlisted 2001
Population over time
2 figuresWakefield fell from 980 to 858 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 980 | |
| 2020 | 858 | -122 (-12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 14 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1891 USGS Clay Center quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1955 USGS Manhattan quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Manhattan quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Manhattan quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Wakefield quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Clay Center quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
16 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Wakefield between 2012 and 2020, burning about 2,519 acres in total. 1 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/undetermined | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 July 2018 | Natural | 5.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 4353 |
| 30 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 3060 |
| 2 May 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Geary County | 58 |
| 23 April 2015 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 2537 |
| 14 April 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | not named |
| 10 April 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Clay County | 201704 |
| 4 March 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,200 acres | Fort Riley Kansas | TRAINING AREA 60 |
| 31 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | 65 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 1976 |
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Wakefield: 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Limestone, General. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John D. Gray | Limestone, General | Unknown |
Storms near this place
60 of 61 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wakefield in 61 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 44 hail, 14 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2025 | Flash Flood | Wakefield | $30,000 | Multiple county roads damaged due to washouts from flash flooding overnight. Delayed report. Time estimated from radar. |
| April 2002 | Hail | Wakefield | $1,000 | Quarter size hail broke windows on a church. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | $1,000 | Some windows were blown out of a house by strong winds. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Two inch tree limbs were blown down. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Wind gust was estimated. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Tree limbs down in Wakefield. Time based on radar. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Estimated wind gust. |
| June 2010 | Flash Flood | Wakefield | - | Numerous County Roads were flooded due to measured rainfall of 2.30 inches in approximately 30 to 40 minutes. |
| March 2009 | Hail | Wakefield | - | Spotter reported that lots of pea size hail had fallen. The largest stones were the size of pennies. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Wakefield | - | Trained spotters reported hail from the size of quarters to the size of golfballs. |
| May 2007 | Hail | Wakefield | - | Nickel and dime sized hail reported. Small creeks and streams were also reported to be running near bankfull. |
| January 2006 | Hail | Wakefield | - | Mostly dime to some nickel size hail. |
| September 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Large trees were blown down. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| May 2015 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| September 2014 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| April 2013 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| April 2012 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| August 2009 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| March 2009 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| March 2002 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| September 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| November 1996 | Flood | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broughton (historical) | 7.9 miles | 14 | |
| Ladysmith | 10.3 miles | 14 | |
| Industry | 10.4 miles | 15 | |
| Clay Center | 12.9 miles | 14 | |
| Green | 14.8 miles | 14 | |
| Idana | 16.9 miles | 14 | |
| Longford | 17.5 miles | 14 | |
| Oak Hill | 18.0 miles | 14 |
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 Wakefield | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2666759 | The 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 476323. 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.





