Aurora, Minnesota
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 1994. It stands in White Township. It lies in ZIP code area 55705. The Survey maps it on the Aurora quadrangle. 1,678 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,470 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAurora fell from 1,682 to 1,678 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 | 1,682 | |
| 2020 | 1,678 | -4 (-0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 14 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.
- 1949 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:24000
- 1950 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Hibbing quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Hibbing quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Hibbing quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1964 USGS Hibbing quadrangle1:250000
- 1994 USGS Vermillion Lake quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
87 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 87 fires within 5 miles of Aurora between 1992 and 2020, burning about 258 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 9 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 |
|---|---|
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 22 |
| Debris and open burning | 20 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
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 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Superior National Forest | SUFFOLK ROAD FIRE |
| 6 September 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 August 2006 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 14 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 1 August 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Superior National Forest | DMIR MP49.5 |
| 1 August 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Superior National Forest | DMIR MP 49.8 |
| 5 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 28 July 2006 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 72 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 72 workings within 5 miles of Aurora: 56 past producers, 9 producers, 7 prospects. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Aluminum, Manganese, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Silica, Water, Free, Silica, Manganese, Aluminum, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Water, Free, Water, Free. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangor Mine | Iron, Silica, Manganese, Aluminum, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Water, Free | Producer | 1910 | |
| Magnetic Taconite Mesabi Range 15w | Iron, Water, Free | Prospect | ||
| Stephens Mine | Iron, Manganese, Aluminum, Silica, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Water, Free | Producer | 1903 | |
| U.S. Steel Reserve O-40 | Iron, Silica, Manganese, Aluminum, Water, Free, Phosphorus-Phosphates | Past Producer | ||
| Donora Mine | Iron, Aluminum, Manganese, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Silica, Water, Free | Prospect | ||
| Embarrass Mine | Iron, Aluminum, Manganese, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Silica, Water, Free | Past Producer | 1909 | |
| Meadow Reserve O-29 | Iron, Aluminum, Manganese, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Silica, Water, Free | Prospect | ||
| U.S. Steel Reserve 0-42 | Iron, Aluminum, Manganese, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Silica, Water, Free | Past Producer | 1956 | |
| Adriatic Mine | Iron | Past Producer | 1906 | |
| Adriatic Mine | Iron | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Aurora in 9 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Aurora | - | Two trees were reported down onto power lines. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Aurora | - | Several trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds in Aurora. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Aurora | - | Many small trees and some large trees were blown down in Aurora. |
| April 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Aurora | - | Trees were damaged and blown down. |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Aurora | - | Trees up to 12 inches in diameter were blown down between Aurora and Eveleth. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Aurora | - | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Hail | Aurora | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Aurora | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Hail | Aurora | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pineville | 3.0 miles | 14 | |
| Colby | 3.7 miles | 14 | |
| Hoyt Lakes | 5.3 miles | 14 | |
| Biwabik | 5.5 miles | 14 | |
| Mesaba | 6.2 miles | 14 | |
| Old Mesaba | 6.6 miles | 14 | |
| Hinsdale | 6.8 miles | 14 | |
| Wyman | 6.9 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 Aurora | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1926636 | 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 660700. 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.







