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Bena, Minnesota

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1996. It stands in Bena City. It lies in ZIP code area 56626. The Survey maps it on the Bena quadrangle. 143 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,316 feet above sea level.

Bena within Cass County

On record in Bena

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

Population over time

2 figures

Bena grew from 116 to 143 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
2010116
2020143+27 (+23%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 9 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

98 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 98 fires within 5 miles of Bena between 1992 and 2019, burning about 67 acres in total. None started naturally. 37 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
Arson/incendiarism37
Debris and open burning17
Misuse of fire by a minor11
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Railroad operations and maintenance9
Equipment and vehicle use4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Fireworks3
Recreation and ceremony2
Other causes2
Smoking1

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
30 September 2005Debris and open burningunder an acreChippewa National ForestNEEDLE
2 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreChippewa National ForestBUCKET
17 September 2007Debris and open burningunder an acreChippewa National ForestSECTION 34
13 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresChippewa National ForestBENA
11 September 2012Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreChippewa National ForestHUNGRY GULCH
7 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreChippewa National ForestBENA
6 August 2006Arson/incendiarismunder an acreChippewa National ForestOLD HOUSING
12 August 2007Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreChippewa National ForestRADIO

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cass County

Storms near this place

28 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bena in 28 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 2 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
June 2010HailBena$15,000Most of the hail that fell was golf ball size. A few larger stones up to baseball size were observed. The hail was reported at the new Leech Lake Campground. There was hail damage to vehicles, awnings, and buildings in Bena.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBena$15,000Substantial wind damage was reported. The wind blew hard enough to blow water through seals around windows of the campground lodge. A 100 pound access cover on the roof was thrown the entire length of the roof. Siding and shingles were damaged and thrown about. Covers were taken off the boat lift. Trees were downed, and a few were uprooted and sheared off.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBena$1,000Tree limbs were blown down due to the strong winds.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindBena-One large tree was down along with many branches snapped off.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBena-Several large trees were snapped and large branches down.
June 2018HailBena-Pea to golf ball-sized hail fell for over 7 minutes along with heavy rain.
June 2018HailBena-Cherry tomato-sized hail was observed at a resort on the south shore of Lake Winnibigoshish.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindBena-Strong thunderstorm winds blew down trees with diameters up to 8 inches.
August 2017Tornado (EF0)Bena-Multiple reports of photos and video received showing waterspouts on Lake Winnibigoshish. Eye witnesses reported three different waterspouts on the lake with two occurring at the same time.
August 2017Tornado (EF0)Bena-Multiple reports of photos and video received showing waterspouts on Lake Winnibigoshish. Eye witnesses reported three different waterspouts on the lake with two occurring at the same time.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindBena-Multiple trees were knocked down.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindBena-A wind speed was recorded by a personal weather station.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindBena-Many trees were blown down on Highway 2 between mile marker 145 and 157.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindBena-Widespread severe wind damage was reported along the eastern shore of Lake Winnibigoshish.
June 2010HailBena-The hail was reported at the Nodak Lodge and Resort.
June 2024HailBena-no account filed
July 2021HailBena-no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindBena-no account filed
June 2010HailBena-no account filed
June 2010HailBena-no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindBena-no account filed
July 2001HailBena-no account filed
August 2001HailBena-no account filed
August 2000HailBena-no account filed
May 1998HailBena-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindBena-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindBena-no account filed
September 1996HailBena-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cass 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
Ryan Village4.5 miles9
Federal Dam6.6 miles9
Schley11.2 miles9
Bald Eagle Center12.0 miles9
Boy River12.7 miles9
Elevenmile Corner16.6 miles10
Cuba (historical)16.7 miles9
Tobique17.9 miles11

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 BenaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2346661The 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 655329. 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.