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Belle Plaine, Minnesota

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Belle Plaine City. It lies in ZIP code area 56011. It stands on Robert Creek. The Survey maps it on the Belle Plaine South quadrangle. 7,395 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 856 feet above sea level.

Belle Plaine within Scott County

On record in Belle Plaine

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

Population over time

2 figures

Belle Plaine grew from 6,661 to 7,395 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.

YearPeople Change
20106,661
20207,395+734 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

2 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Belle Plaine between 2005 and 2009, burning about 10 acres in total. None started naturally. None 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
20 May 2009Recreation and ceremony10 acresMinnesota Valley National Wildlife RefugeBELLE PLAIN
14 April 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Scott County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Belle Plaine: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Belle Plaine PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Bergs Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Sheperd Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Scott County

Storms near this place

58 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Belle Plaine in 58 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 24 thunderstorm wind, 24 hail, 3 flash flood, 3 tornado. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2016Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine$25,000Wind damage occurred throughout the county, but the worst areas were from New Prague to Elko-New Market. This area had multiple reports of trees down, many large, and some affecting power lines. There were a few recorded wind gusts of 55 to 65 mph across the southern part of Scott County.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Report of downed maple tree in backyard near the Belle Plaine High School.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Large tree snapped in Belle Plaine.
August 2025Funnel CloudBelle Plaine-There were several reports of a funnel cloud near Belle Plaine.
June 2024Heavy RainBelle Plaine-Nearly 3 to 4 inches of rain fell in southern Scott county.
March 2019FloodBelle Plaine-As temperatures started to rise, a recent heavy rainfall event on the 12th and 13th, the snowpack ripened and began melting. This caused the Sand Creek in Jordan to develop an ice jam from the rapid melt. This also led to the evacuation of some residents in the Valley Green Mobile Home Park, in Jordan along this creek. About 1,000 people were affected by the evacuation which caused water to flow over the bank and onto the property. In addition, the Minnesota River along the western and northern county line had numerous road closures due to flood waters.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Several power lines were blown down on Iago Blvd southeast of Belle Plaine.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-A NWS Storm Survey indicated straight-line wind damage to a farmstead and a few large trees uprooted.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Numerous large tree branches, and trees up to one foot in diameter, were blown down around Belle Plaine.
June 2014Flash FloodBelle Plaine-Excessive rainfall during the overnight hours caused several mud slides near Blakeley, where evaculations were in order due to rising waters. One of the mud slides near Blakeley washed out the local train track. The Valley Green Mobile Home Park in Jordan had severe flooding, and evacuations were voluntary.
June 2014Heavy RainBelle Plaine-A local observer had a 12 hour rainfall report of 6.41 inches.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Numerous large trees were blown down around Belle Plaine.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Numerous large trees were blown down around Belle Plaine.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-A wind sensor measured a wind gust of 73 mph near the intersection of Highway 19 and County Road 3, south of Belle Plaine, Minnesota.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-A Minnesota Department of Transportation Weather Station measured a wind gust of 63 knots.
August 2010Flash FloodBelle Plaine-Several inches of rain fell across a large portion of Scott County between 2 and 5 AM CST. Some areas in the town of Belle Plaine, Minnesota had significant street flooding during the height of the storm. Some areas in Scott County measured nearly four inches of rainfall overnight.
July 2008HailBelle Plaine-Hail occurred just North of Walnut Street.
May 2008HailBelle Plaine-Reported on Cedar Street.
May 2008HailBelle Plaine-Occurred at Highway 169 and County road 60.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-A tree was downed onto power lines.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-A 67 MPH wind gust was measured by a MNDOT sensor at 5:57 AM CDT. Trees up to 10 inches in diameter were downed.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-A MNDOT automated wind sensor recorded a gust of 61 MPH.
May 2004HailBelle Plaine-Dime sized hail fell west of town.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-A wind gust of 63 MPH was recorded by an automated weather sensor.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Seven inch branches down.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Tree felled.
August 2002Tornado (F0)Belle Plaine-Brief touchdown in open field.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Several two foot diameter trees felled.
May 2001Tornado (F0)Belle Plaine-Tornado passed over open fields, no damage reported.
July 1999Tornado (F1)Belle Plaine-Roofs partially taken off two downtown businesses. Few trees down.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Large trees blown down. Roof damage in rural areas. Estimated windspeed.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Trees blown down.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Trees blown down. Tree damaged extended to Blakeley. Estimated windspeed.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-Several large trees were blown down by strong thunderstorm winds.
May 2022HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2021HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2016HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2012HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2012HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2012HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2012HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
July 2008HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2007HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2007HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
April 2006HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
August 2006HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
August 2006HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 2005HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
August 2005HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2004HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
July 2002HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 2002HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 1999HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 1998HailBelle Plaine-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
July 1997Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed
July 1997Flash FloodBelle Plaine-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindBelle Plaine-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Scott County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Valley View Terrace0.5 miles11
Blakeley4.6 miles11
Lawrence5.1 miles11
Jordan8.1 miles11
Saint Benedict8.5 miles11
Mudbaden9.3 miles12
Saint Josephs11.2 miles12
Baden11.4 miles12

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 Belle PlaineAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1927047The 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 639891. 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.