Wakefield, Michigan
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1999. It stands in Wakefield City. It lies in ZIP code area 49968. The Survey maps it on the Wakefield quadrangle. 1,702 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,539 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresWakefield fell from 1,851 to 1,702 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 | 1,851 | |
| 2020 | 1,702 | -149 (-8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 13 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.
- 1955 USGS Wakefield quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Wakefield quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Iron River quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Iron River quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Iron River quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Iron River quadrangle1:250000
- 1990 USGS Wakefield quadrangle1:100000
- 1999 USGS Wakefield quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
11 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Wakefield between 1992 and 2020, burning about 13 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 August 2012 | Natural | under an acre | Ottawa National Forest | LONE PINE |
| 7 May 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 May 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.5 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | WAKEFIELD FD 0540001 - 2020 |
| 2 May 2010 | Natural | under an acre | Ottawa National Forest | MORGAN MINE |
| 2 May 2010 | Natural | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | MORGAN MINE ROAD |
| 30 April 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 April 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 49 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 49 workings within 5 miles of Wakefield: 29 past producers, 18 occurrences, 1 producer, 1 prospect. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Lead. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cebolski Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Lead Prospect | Lead | Occurrence | ||
| Anvil-Palms-Keeweenaw Group | Iron | Past Producer | 1886, 1887 | |
| Anvil-Palms-Keweenaw Group | Iron | Past Producer | 1887, 1957 | |
| Castile-Meteor Mine | Iron | Past Producer | Secondary Enrichment | |
| Chicago Mines (Sparta) | Iron | Past Producer | 1892, 1915 | |
| Chicago- Includes Former Sparta | Iron | Past Producer | 1892 | |
| Eureka-Asteroid | Iron | Past Producer | 1890 | |
| Eureka-Asteroid Mine | Iron | Past Producer | 1890, 1926 | |
| Gogebic Iron District (Range) | Iron | Past Producer | 1884, 1967 |
Storms near this place
28 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wakefield in 28 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 17 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 2 lightning, 2 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death and 1 injury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2006 | Lightning | Wakefield | 1 killed | A 50-year old man was struck and killed by lightning while standing under a tree near Sunday Lake in Wakefield. |
| June 2005 | Lightning | Wakefield | 1 hurt | A 41 year-old man was struck by lightning while mowing his lawn. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | $1,000,000 | The NWS storm survey concluded that damage in and immediately surrounding Wakefield was caused by straight-line thunderstorm winds up to 90 mph. Wind damage included an overturned camper trailer, a roof ripped off an old skating rink, a few damaged or destroyed outbuildings, hundreds of large uprooted or snapped trees (some 30 to 40 inches in diameter), downed power lines, and several trees downed on houses or vehicles. The survey team could not access all areas around Wakefield due to the number of downed trees. The time of the report was based on radar, observations and interviews of individuals in the area. |
| July 2006 | Hail | Wakefield | $750,000 | Hail up to 4 inches in diameter resulted in significant damage to roofs, siding, and automobiles. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | $5,000 | The Gogebic County Sheriff reported trees and power lines down in Wakefield. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | $5,000 | Satellite dish destroyed. One to two foot diameter pine trees were blown down. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | $2,000 | Multiple trees were blown down on Highway US-2 between Wakefield and Marenisco. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | $2,000 | Two to three-inch diameter branches down. A few trees down. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | $1,000 | A power pole was reported down on Putnam Street in Wakefield. The time of the report was estimated from radar. |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | $1,000 | Top half of an eight to ten-foot tall tree knocked over with four |inch diameter branches on a few vehicles. Brief power outage occurred. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | VFW Post 9084 reported damage to their roof and and a downed tree resulting in three power poles being snapped. |
| August 2017 | Flood | Wakefield | - | Heavy rainfall which lasted approximately one hour caused an estimated 6-8 inches of water over roads near the intersection of Highways US-2 and M-28. Time of the report was estimated from radar. |
| June 2012 | Heavy Rain | Wakefield | - | Many locations throughout Gogebic County measured between two and three inches of storm total rainfall. |
| May 2011 | Heavy Rain | Wakefield | - | Heavy rain over a 15-minute period caused two to three inches of water over roadways and flooding in ditches. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Four-inch diameter trees blown down. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Five-inch diameter tree branches blown down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Tree down across Chaney Lake Rd. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Eighteen inch diameter trees were knocked down. |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Numerous 6 inch diameter hardwood trees were blown down. |
| July 2000 | Hail | Wakefield | - | 3/4 inch hail |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Stop signs blown down. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | 20 inch diameter pine tree toppled. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | 4 inch branches down along the southwest shore of Lake Gogebic. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wakefield | - | Large industrial waste containers rolled by thunderstorm wind. |
| April 2008 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Wakefield | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | 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.
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 Q2196320 | 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 1622046. 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.







