Wellston, Michigan
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1933 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Norman Township. It lies in ZIP code area 49689. It stands on Bear Wallow Creek. The Survey maps it on the Wellston quadrangle. 254 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 774 feet above sea level.
On record in Wellston
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
Udell Lookout Towerlisted 1996
Population over time
2 figuresWellston fell from 311 to 254 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 | 311 | |
| 2020 | 254 | -57 (-18%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 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.
- 1933 USGS Peacock NW quadrangle1:31680
- 1954 USGS Traverse City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1957 USGS Wellston quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Traverse City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1976 USGS Wellston NW quadrangle1:24000
- 1983 USGS Cadillac quadrangle1:100000
- 1987 USGS Wellston quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS Traverse City quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
145 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 145 fires within 5 miles of Wellston between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,052 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 15 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 51 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 25 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 22 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | MIKELLE 2 |
| 13 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | RIFLE RANGE |
| 8 August 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | 815 |
| 8 August 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | LOG JAM |
| 7 August 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | STRAWBERRY POINT |
| 5 August 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | STRAWBERRY POINT |
| 31 August 2015 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | OLD TARGET |
| 22 August 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Huron-Manistee National Forest | SPRUCE ST. |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Wellston: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gillispie Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Leavitt Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
20 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wellston in 20 storm reports between 1997 and 2026: 11 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 1 flash 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | $12,000 | Scattered downed trees occurred in Wellston, including one tree downed onto a vehicle. |
| May 2011 | Flash Flood | Wellston | $10,000 | Training thunderstorms brought excessive rainfall to the Wellston area. A cooperative observer, 1 mile north of Wellston, measured 5.05 inches of rain from 9 am to 9 pm. A considerable amount of standing water developed on area roads, and some were closed for part of the afternoon. |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | $5,000 | Several trees and power lines were downed in Wellston. |
| October 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | $4,000 | Six trees were blown down west of Wellston, near M-55. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | $3,000 | Two trees and several large limbs were downed. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | $2,500 | Large tree blown over. An anemometer measured a 62 mph gust before the cups were blown off the measuring device. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | $2,000 | Three large trees were blown down. |
| March 2026 | Hail | Wellston | - | Trained spotter reported accumulating hail up to 0.80 inches in diameter. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | - | Strong thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees and overturned a 200 lb water pump. |
| September 2021 | Hail | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| February 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| October 1999 | Hail | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Hail | Wellston | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellston | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin | 2.9 miles | 15 | |
| Brethren | 6.9 miles | 9 | |
| Udell | 7.2 miles | 8 | |
| Kaleva | 11.1 miles | 9 | |
| Marilla | 11.4 miles | 13 | |
| Chief Lake | 11.9 miles | 9 | |
| Maue Corners | 13.8 miles | 9 | |
| Norwalk | 13.8 miles | 9 |
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 Wellston | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q27430150 | 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 1622084. 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.







