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Big Stone County, Minnesota

26 topographic sheets cover 15 settlements here, and 9 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

9 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

Minnesota within the United States
Big Stone County within Minnesota

What the record shows

  • 119 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 9 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 7 buildings, 1 site and 1 district.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 15 populated places in this county; 15 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

9

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Photograph PropertyType ListedReference
Big Stone County Courthousebuilding198585001764
Milwaukee Chicago St. Paul and Pacific Depotbuilding198686002118
Columbian Hotelbuilding198585001766
District No. 13 Schoolbuilding198585001772
Graceville Historical Markersite200404001358
Odessa Jailbuilding198686001916
Ortonville Commercial Historic Districtdistrict198585001765
Ortonville Free Librarybuilding198585001767
St. Pauli Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Churchbuilding201010000581

Wildfire, 1992 to 2019

26 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 26 of them, burning about 8,748 acres. None started naturally and 3 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined14
Debris and open burning5
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony2
Other causes1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. One of them was set deliberately.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
14 April 2004Arson/incendiarism7,330 acresMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesLOUISBURGRADE
12 April 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined590 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeDISMAL SWAMP
16 November 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined265 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeHOFFMAN
10 May 2013Debris and open burning117 acresMorris National Wildlife Refuge285G
9 December 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined94 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeBIG W WPA WILDFIRE
17 April 2001Missing data/not specified/undetermined80 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeHILLMAN
22 May 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined80 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 April 1992Missing data/not specified/undetermined41 acresMorris National Wildlife RefugeHILLMANB14

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1955 to 2025

60 of 250 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 250 reports for this county, causing no deaths, no injuries and about $1,907,000 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Thunderstorm Wind113
Hail104
Flood14
Tornado13
Flash Flood3
Funnel Cloud3

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 1996Tornado (F3)Clinton$1,500,000no account filed
June 2024FloodArtichoke$332,000Heavy rain from thunderstorms, in concert with an already wet spring, resulted in flooding that damaged township roads and culverts. Damage assessments between Otrey and Artichoke Lake townships reached 331655.85 dollars.
June 2008Flash FloodBeardsley$50,000no account filed
July 1959Tornado (F1)not stated$25,000no account filed
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBarry-Storm chasers reported that 6 and 10 inch diameter tree branches snapped at the intersection of MN-28 and Big Stone County Road 59.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBarry-Trained spotters posted images of tree damage in the town of Barry.
July 2025HailJohnson-Hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter was observed with a storm near the town of Johnson.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindOrtonville Arpt-The Automated Weather Observation System near Ortonville measured peak wind gusts of 60 mph.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindOrtonville Arpt-The Minnesota Department of Transportation Road Weather Information System near Odessa measured peak wind gusts of 60 mph.
July 2025FloodJohnson-Heavy rainfall resulted in the flooding of fields and ditches in and around the town of Johnson.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBarry-A trained spotter reported a 61 mph wind gust from a rooftop anemometer at the intersection of MN-28 and Big Stone County Road 59. Nearby crop damage was also reported.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBarry-One and half miles west of Barry, numerous tree limbs up to 18 inches in diameter were downed and several smaller trees were snapped at the base.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindOrtonville-A trained spotter surveying for damage reported multiple trees topped, uprooted or damaged at a farmstead northeast of Ortonville. Minor structural damage to a small grain bin and outbuilding included shingles torn from the roof.
July 2024HailGraceville-Hail stones were estimated at 3 inches, resulting in blown out windows and damage to the roof at the residence. Windows on vehicles were also smashed.
April 2023FloodOrtonville-The Minnesota River at Big Stone Lake reached a level of 972.7 or 1.2 feet above flood. An unknown number of cabins and businesses along the lake experienced some degree of flooding or water damage.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindArtichoke-Several uprooted and snapped trees on the property. A machine shed was leaning east and another barn leaning northeast. The house on the property was also leaning with a several inch gap between the house and the chimney. The house was deemed unlivable.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindArtichoke-Estimated 80 mph wind gusts dented a grain bin and uprooted trees.
May 2022Tornado (EF1)Correll-A storm chaser documented the brief tornado touchdown. Two farmsteads were damaged. The first farm was located near 410th St and 590th Ave. This farm exhibited a clear track through trees on the property, the house had shingle damage and damage occurred to small outbuildings. Roughly three quarters of a mile to the north, near 400th St, the second property was damaged. This property had a grain bin swept off the base, complete destruction of machine shed, shingle damage to the home and a clear path of mangled trees.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindOdessa-The time of the peak wind gust was estimated based on radar.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindOdessa-Several branches were downed, and some shingles were blown off a roof by estimated 65 mph winds.
October 2021Tornado (EF0)Odessa-A tornado was photographed north of Odessa.
October 2021Tornado (EF0)Clinton-The Graceville, MN Fire Department observed a tornado.
October 2021Tornado (EF0)Barry-A tornado was photographed south of Barry.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindGraceville-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindGraceville-An estimated sixty mph wind took the top off an evergreen tree.
August 2019HailOdessa-Quarter size hail shredded some bean fields.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindClinton-Some trees were downed in Clinton by seventy mph winds.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindClinton-Multiple trees were uprooted and snapped in Clinton by estimated eighty mph winds.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindOdessa-Eighty mph winds dented several grain bins, took off a section of a machine shed roof, tipped over a grain auger, along with breaking some windows.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindOrtonville Arpt-Seventy mph winds damaged an outbuilding.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindJohnson-Seventy mph winds caused minor damage to the roof of a barn.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindJohnson-Eighty mph winds completely destroyed an open faced shed.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindOrtonville-Sixty-five mph winds damaged a shed along with downing some large branches.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindJohnson-Seventy mph winds caused a partial loss of a roof.
June 2017Tornado (EF1)Clinton-Storm chasers and residents observed a brief tornado on the leading edge of a line of storms. The tornado moved over one farmstead damaging multiple structures. Over half of the tin roof was ripped from the house along with considerable damage to the siding of the house. One machine shed was completely destroyed. Another machine shed had damage to the southward facing walls and lost over half of the roof. A third machine shed had extensive damage to the westward facing walls and lost over half of the roof. An empty grain bin was completely removed from the cement base and an attached auger was toppled. Another grain bin was dented at the top. One power pole was snapped, with other poles downed due to the weight of the wires. Widespread tree damage including snapped trunks, uprooted trees, and large broken branches occurred on the property. A small area of corn crop was razed to the ground. Some debris was driven into the ground, while other debris was lofted roughly 2000 feet to the northeast.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindOrtonville Arpt-Eighty mph winds snapped multiple trees along with downing many large tree branches. Some electrical lines were also downed.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindOrtonville-Eighty mph winds ripped the patio off of a house which also caused roof damage.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindOrtonville-Eighty mph winds uprooted many trees at the Ortonville golf course.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindArtichoke-Eighty mph winds caved in the sides of two grain bins.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindBarry-Eighty mph winds took out the wall of a machine shed along with damaging the roof.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindGraceville-Eighty mph winds collapsed the walls of a machine shed.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindGraceville-Seventy mph winds damaged a grain elevator.
June 2016Tornado (EF0)Barry-A thin rope tornado touched down briefly with no damage reported.
June 2016Tornado (EF0)Barry-A tornado touched down to the west of Barry for several minutes with no damage reported.
July 2016Flash FloodOrtonville Arpt-Several roads were flooded from Ortonville to several miles to the northeast. The sewer system also failed in Ortonville for a time.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindClinton-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindClinton-Estimated sixty mph winds caused damage to crops.
May 2014HailCorrell-Large hail broke skylight in the home.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindOrtonville-Many large trees were downed by eighty mph winds.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindOrtonville Arpt-Eighty mph winds brought several trees and power lines down in Ortonville. Also part of a roof and wall of a building were damaged.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindOrtonville Arpt-Eighty mph winds caused major damage in and around Ortonville with numerous trees down, some roofs destroyed, along with many grain bins damaged.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindArtichoke-Winds gusted to sixty mph.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindOdessa-Several power poles were snapped about four feet off the ground by very strong winds of over 100 mph.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindOrtonville-Winds over 100 mph caused quite a bit of tree damage in Ortonville. Some trees were downed along with many tree branches. Some businesses sustained some facade damage. There were a few structures that suffered roof damage ranging from loss of shingles to a section of the roof being blown off. A storage building on the east side of town near the intersections of Highway 75 and 12 was blown down with a grain bin destroyed half mile east. Another grain bin suffered damage when it was hit by debris from the first grain bin.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindOdessa-Sixty mph winds brought down several tree branches.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindClinton-Eighty mph winds downed several trees with several telephone poles leaning.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindClinton-A very large cottonwood tree was uprooted by ninety mph winds.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindClinton-Numerous large trees were downed on a farm southeast of Clinton.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindClinton-Eighty mph winds plus caused widespread tree and structural damage on a farm southeast of Clinton. Many trees were downed. Two outbuildings lost their roofs with significant damage to one of the outbuildings. A garage was completely moved off of its foundation and destroyed.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindOrtonville-Sixty mph winds were estimated in Ortonville.

Mines and quarries

4 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 4 workings inside this county. All of them still produce. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Granite2
Stone, Crushed/Broken2
Sand and Gravel, Construction2

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Agate QuarryGranite, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Hillman PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Ortonville Quarry & MillGranite, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Sibson Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every populated place in the county

15

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

Provenance

  • Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
  • Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
  • Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
  • 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.