BlockBefore

Cottage Grove, Minnesota

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Cottage Grove City. It lies in ZIP code area 55016. The Survey maps it on the Saint Paul Park quadrangle. 38,839 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 814 feet above sea level.

Cottage Grove within Washington County

On record in Cottage Grove

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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Cottage Grove grew from 34,589 to 38,839 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
201034,589
202038,839+4,250 (+12%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 18 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

3 since 2012

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Cottage Grove between 2012 and 2018, burning about 91 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
Equipment and vehicle use1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Debris and open burning1

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
25 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined75 acresMinnesota Valley National Wildlife RefugeGREY CLOUD
1 April 2017Debris and open burning6.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
17 March 2012Equipment and vehicle use10 acresMinnesota Valley National Wildlife RefugeINNOVATION

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Washington County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Cottage Grove: 7 producers, 1 plant. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sulfur. 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
(Facility) Northwestern RefinerySulfurPlant
Shiely Larson Quarry & PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Cottage Grove Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Nelson Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Noltiemeyer Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Noltiemeyer Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Pine Bend Pit & MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Riggs Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Washington County

Storms near this place

33 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cottage Grove in 33 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 15 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning, 1 funnel cloud. The reports record 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
October 2005LightningCottage Grove2 hurtA lightning strike hit a home in the 7900 Block of 71st Street. The bolt caused an immediate explosion, and injured two 50 year olds who owned the home. The individuals were transported to Regions Hospital, where they were listed in fair and stable condition on the 5th. The fire destroyed the residence and caused some damage to neighboring residences.
May 1996Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove$800,000no account filed
July 2020Tornado (EF1)Cottage Grove$100,000A NWS Storm Survey indicated that an EF1 tornado occurred in far southern Washington County, in a rural area, north of Hastings, Minnesota. ||The tornado spun up 5 miles north of Hastings, Minnesota, and tracked eastward for 3.2 miles until it moved across the St. Croix River, and into Wisconsin. Extensive tree damage occurred along its path, with the heaviest damage on top of the bluff as it moved across the St. Croix River into Wisconsin. A few farm outbuildings were also damaged. The tornado had a maximum speed of 100 mph, with a maximum width of 400 yards.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove$25,000Scattered trees were downed across the southern part of Washington County from south of Cottage Grove, northeast to near Afton. In addition, there were sporadic reports of power outages due to power lines downed.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove$20,000Several large trees and power lines were blown down in Cottage Grove, Minnesota.
September 2024HailCottage Grove-Report from Mping.
August 2021HailCottage Grove-A public report of quarter size hail relayed from a local TV Meteorologist.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-Multiple trees were blown down near Cottage Grove.
October 2016HailCottage Grove-A swath of 0.75 inch hail occurred in the southern part of Washington County from Cottage Grove, east to the Wisconsin border.
June 2014Heavy RainCottage Grove-A 24 hour rainfall total of 4.00 inches was reported.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-A private weather station reported a wind gust of 58 mph near Cottage Grove, Minnesota.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-Several large tree branches were blown down.
May 2006HailCottage Grove-Hail occurred at Fire Station Number 2, located near the center of town.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-Limbs up to 4 inches in diameter fell onto power lines.
July 2005LightningCottage Grove-Lightning struck a home near the intersection of Highway 61 and Jamaica Avenue. The resulting fire caused minor damage to the structure.
April 2004Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-Trees and power lines were downed. A silo was damaged.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-Few trees and power lines down.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-Few trees and power lines down.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-Large branches down. Estimated windspeed.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-1000 trees lost. 29 homes uninhabitable. 548 homes sustained damage. Estimated windspeed.
August 2023HailCottage Grove-no account filed
September 2016HailCottage Grove-no account filed
September 2016HailCottage Grove-no account filed
June 2015HailCottage Grove-no account filed
April 2012HailCottage Grove-no account filed
July 2010Funnel CloudCottage Grove-no account filed
June 2007HailCottage Grove-no account filed
May 2004HailCottage Grove-no account filed
April 2002HailCottage Grove-no account filed
June 1999HailCottage Grove-no account filed
June 1999HailCottage Grove-no account filed
June 1997HailCottage Grove-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindCottage Grove-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washington 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
Langdon1.5 miles18
Saint Paul Park2.7 miles18
East Cottage Grove3.4 miles18
Newport4.0 miles28
Woodbury6.7 miles17
Basswood Grove7.7 miles18
Oakbury8.4 miles17
Point Douglas8.5 miles18

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 Cottage GroveAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q268916The 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 659701. 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.