Bethel, Minnesota
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Bethel City. It lies in ZIP code area 55005. The Survey maps it on the Saint Francis quadrangle. 476 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 932 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresBethel grew from 443 to 476 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 443 | |
| 2010 | 466 | +23 (+5%) |
| 2020 | 476 | +10 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 15 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.
- 1916 USGS St. Francis quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1919 USGS St. Francis quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS St Francis quadrangle1:24000
- 1975 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Anoka quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Anoka quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
199 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 199 fires within 5 miles of Bethel between 1992 and 2020, burning about 506 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 25 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 93 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 34 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 25 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 17 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 17 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.5 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 29 September 2000 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 25 September 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 24 September 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 16 September 2012 | Fireworks | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 29 August 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 August 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 August 2006 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
29 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bethel in 29 storm reports between 1999 and 2023: 14 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 3 funnel cloud, 2 tornado. The reports record 4 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Bethel | 3 hurt, $500,000 | A large area of eastern Anoka County received damage from severe straight line winds that moved from west to east across the area between 1850 to 1900 CST. Damage includes power lines, railroad crossing gates, personal property and trees. Three injuries occurred near Linwood at Camp Ajawah. A spotter measured 69 mph in the eastern part of East Bethel, or 2 miles north-northwest of Linwood. |
| June 2005 | Lightning | East Bethel | 1 hurt | A 14-year-old boy was indirectly struck by lightning in the basement of a home near the intersection of 170th and Bender in Section 11 of Columbus Township. He was reaching for a glass on a table when he saw a blue flash by his feet and felt a sudden pain in his back. He was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. The time was estimated. |
| July 2011 | Tornado (EF0) | East Bethel | $25,000 | A brief tornado touched down on Coon Lake, East of East Bethel. Damage occurred to a boat and the boat dock. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Bethel | $2,000 | Several power lines were blown down near East Bethel, Minnesota. |
| July 2017 | Tornado (EF0) | East Bethel | - | The tornado touched down in East Bethel, along 225th Ave NE and just east of Highway 65. It moved southeast, crossing the northern part of Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area, and exited the county in the northeast corner of Columbus. Numerous trees were downed, with some hitting houses, sheds and vehicles. The wind also took some siding off a house and dented a garage door. After exiting Anoka County, it moved across the far southwest part of Chisago County, where it dissipated. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Bethel | - | Several dozen trees were broken or toppled in a neighborhood on the west side of Coon Lake in East Bethel. Some trees landed on homes, sheds and vehicles. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Bethel | - | Several trees were blown down northeast of Ham Lake, near Coon Lake. |
| May 2012 | Heavy Rain | East Bethel | - | A local observer measured 3.32 inches in the last 24 hours. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethel | - | A large tree was blown down across Highway 65 and County Road 24 in East Bethel. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Bethel | - | A few 8-12 inch diameter trees were blown down near East Bethel, Minnesota. |
| July 2008 | Funnel Cloud | Bethel | - | Spotted near Nowthen and Trout Brook Road in Burns Township. |
| May 2008 | Hail | East Bethel | - | Occurred at intersection of County roads 15 and 26. |
| August 2006 | Hail | East Bethel | - | Hail covered the ground. |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Bethel | - | Trees were downed onto power lines in East Bethel and Oak Grove. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Bethel | - | Few trees down. |
| August 2023 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Bethel | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Funnel Cloud | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| April 2004 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| October 2004 | Hail | East Bethel | - | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Bethel | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Funnel Cloud | East Bethel | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coopers Corner | 1.8 miles | 12 | |
| Woodlyn Court | 3.2 miles | 15 | |
| Saint Francis | 5.0 miles | 15 | |
| Mort | 5.3 miles | 13 | |
| Oak Grove | 5.4 miles | 16 | |
| Cedar | 5.9 miles | 16 | |
| East Bethel | 6.8 miles | 13 | |
| Soderville | 8.2 miles | 13 |
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 Bethel | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2233357 | 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 640014. 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.









