Waterville, Kansas
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Waterville Township. It lies in ZIP code area 66548. The Survey maps it on the Blue Rapids quadrangle. 658 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,178 feet above sea level.
On record in Waterville
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 3 records
Samuel Powell Houselisted 1972
Waterville Opera Houselisted 2008
Weaver Hotellisted 1975
Population over time
2 figuresWaterville fell from 680 to 658 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 | 680 | |
| 2020 | 658 | -22 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 15 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.
- 1889 USGS Marysville quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Marysville quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Manhattan quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Manhattan quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Manhattan quadrangle1:250000
- 1968 USGS Blue Rapids quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Blue Rapids quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
17 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Waterville between 2015 and 2020, burning about 124 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/undetermined | 14 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 August 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 2018015 |
| 9 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | not named |
| 8 April 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Kansas Forest Service | not named |
| 16 April 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Kansas Forest Service | not named |
| 11 April 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 2015017 |
| 1 April 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 2015015 |
| 22 March 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 2015013 |
| 17 March 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 2015010 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
51 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waterville in 51 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 26 thunderstorm wind, 25 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | $30,000 | Strong winds blew down 13 power line poles near Waterville. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | $15,000 | Strong winds blew the roof off of a warehouse in Waterville. Trees were also blow over, one knocking off a street light. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | $10,000 | Trained spotters throughout Marshall County reported 80 mph wind gusts. Large trees were damaged and house windows blew out in Waterville. In Blue Rapids structural damage to homes was reported. In Vermillion, portions of a school roof was blown off. And in Axtell, an 18 foot diameter tree branch snapped. |
| June 2009 | Hail | Waterville | $4,000 | A trained spotter reported that quarter sized hail broke several windows out of a nearby home. The hail was wind driven as reported by the spotter. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | $4,000 | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | $3,000 | Strong winds blew a few power poles down. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | A barn was heavily damaged. This was a delayed report. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Power lines down in Waterville. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Wind gust of 70 mph reported. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Report of an empty grain bin flipped and thrown. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Report of a 65 mph wind gust. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Waterville | - | Nickel sized hail reported. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Delayed report for storm survey on June 12. Large tree limbs of 12 inches in diameter snapped off. Winds estimated at 80 mph. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Highway 77 closed west of Blue Rapids due to power lines blown down along the highway. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Tree limbs 12 inches in diameter blown down. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Report of 60 mph wind gust. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Estimated wind gust report. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Several trees were reported down. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Large tree branches broken, up to 3 inches in diameter. Time was estimated from radar. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Several trees and large branches down. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Large tree branches were reported down. Sizes were unknown. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Delayed report of a grain storage bin buckling at the local elevator. A tin roof on a shed was blown off as well. |
| April 2016 | Hail | Waterville | - | Photo evidence of hail at least 3 inches in diameter. |
| April 2016 | Hail | Waterville | - | Windows were broken out of home. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | There was a 5 inch diameter healthy maple tree limb down. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | Three trailers flipped over and 6 inch tree limb through the side of a house. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Waterville | - | Several reports of quarter size hail. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Waterville | - | Report relayed by nssl shave project. Hail stone measured four inches by one and a half inches. Smaller, non severe hail fell for several minutes on either side of the large hail report. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Waterville | - | Report relayed by nssl shave project. The size of the hail stone was estimated based on the fact that the citizen found golf ball size hail on the ground twenty minutes after it stopped hailing. Smaller, non-severe hail fell for several minutes on either side of the large hail stones. The citizen also reported that 2.20 inches of rain had fallen. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Waterville | - | Several public reports of two and a half inch to two and three quarter inch hail in the Waterville area collected by the nssl shave project. Smaller, non-severe hail for several minutes on either side of the time for the larger hail stones. |
| May 2005 | Hail | Waterville | - | Quarter size hail covered the ground along U.S. Highway 77. |
| April 2017 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| April 2016 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| October 2016 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | no account filed |
| May 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waterville | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Rapids | 4.7 miles | 15 | |
| Bestwall | 5.5 miles | 15 | |
| Alcove Spring | 6.1 miles | 15 | |
| Cottage Hill | 6.5 miles | 15 | |
| Shroyer | 6.5 miles | 15 | |
| Marysville | 11.6 miles | 15 | |
| Reedsville | 12.3 miles | 14 | |
| Carden | 12.9 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 Waterville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2184280 | 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 473159. 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.






