Appleton, Minnesota
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Appleton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 56208. The Survey maps it on the Appleton quadrangle. 1,392 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,007 feet above sea level.
On record in Appleton
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 2 records
Appleton City Halllisted 1977
Gethsemane Episcopal Churchlisted 2011
Population over time
2 figuresAppleton fell from 1,412 to 1,392 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 | 1,412 | |
| 2020 | 1,392 | -20 (-1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 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.
- 1953 USGS Milbank quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Appleton quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Milbank quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Milbank quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
4 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Appleton between 2007 and 2020, burning about 220 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 July 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Morris National Wildlife Refuge | SPRING LAKE |
| 14 May 2007 | Other causes | 43 acres | Morris National Wildlife Refuge | UNNAMED |
| 13 May 2007 | Natural | 150 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | SECTION 32 |
| 8 November 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 27 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Storms near this place
32 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Appleton in 32 storm reports between 1995 and 2022: 15 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud, 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 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | $2,000 | A few large tree branches and a power line were blown down in the city of Appleton. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | A survey team viewed the damage in Appleton but was unable to determine whether it was due to a downburst or tornado. Several dozen trees were broken. |
| May 2022 | Tornado (EF1) | Appleton | - | A tornado developed about 3 miles north-northwest of Milan in Chippewa County and then moved into Swift County where it uprooted a number of trees and significantly damaged farm outbuildings. Maximum winds for the Swift County portion were estimated at 90 mph. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | Several windows broken. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | Many large trees downed and a semi-truck blown over. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | Tree downed in town. |
| July 2006 | Flash Flood | Appleton | - | Emergency Manager reported that nearly five inches of rain fell in Appleton. Cars flooded up to their hoods at the underpass near the intersection of Highways 59 and 119. Two feet of water on Main Street, with water flowing into a building. Also reported by trained spotter and law enforcement official. |
| June 2005 | Funnel Cloud | Appleton | - | Law enforcement reported numerous funnel clouds in and around Appleton. One particular sighting was along Highway 119 about 4.5 miles north of town. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | A cattle shed lost most of its roof at a farm along Highway 12 about 1 mile west of the Highway 5 intersection in Shible Township, Section 15. A machine shed was nearly demolished nearby. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | The roof of three sheds and a hog barn were blown off at a farm on the south side of Lake Oliver near 20th Street NW in Hegbert Township, Section 35. A two by four was blown into the side of a farmhouse and windows were broken by flying debris. Trees were also downed on the property. |
| July 2003 | Hail | Appleton | - | Corn stripped. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | Minor damage to outbuildings. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | Car blown off road. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | Few trees toppled. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | Large branches down partially blocking street. Estimated windspeed. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | Estimated winds. Trees felled, one onto a car. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Appleton | - | Few trees down. Winds estimated. |
| July 1995 | Hail | Appleton | - | One and three-quarters inch hail swath occurred from two miles west of Appleton to four miles north of Appleton resulting in extensive crop damage. Hail occurred for 30 minutes. |
| July 2017 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Funnel Cloud | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Appleton | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Appleton | - | 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 Appleton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2172289 | 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 639416. 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.



