BlockDakota, Minnesota
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1930 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Dakota City. It lies in ZIP code area 55925. It stands on Dakota Creek. The Survey maps it on the Holmen quadrangle. 295 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 679 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresDakota fell from 323 to 295 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 | 323 | |
| 2020 | 295 | -28 (-9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 13 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.
- 1930 USGS La Crescent quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS La Crescent quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Holmen quadrangle1:24000
- 1976 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
1,868 words on this townshipHistory of Winona County, published 1883 names this settlement in its chapter on Dakota City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
March 31 1873, Alex. C. Donalson began to make regular daily tripf Dresback to Lacrosse with his skiff ferry. He ran three seLns between the above places, averaging 200 trips a season, of gMeen miles a trip, making 10,800 miles fo^ f t'-^; - In 1876 Mr. Donalson extended his trip from Dakota to La Crosse. He has averaged his regular 300 trips of twenty miles each every year, making 14,800 miles since 1876 and 34,800 nules since 1873 Mr Donalson is the best oarsman that paddles the Mississippi. He Ta large, tall, muscular man, and glides his boat over the water with as much ease and grace as the gentle current itself.
Passage source: History of Winona County, published 1883.
Mr. Peter Lee built and started the first blacksmith shop in Dakota in 1874. He formerly ran a shop in La Crescent and Dresbach. The first and only harness shop ever ran in Dakota was opened by Joseph Hoffman in 1874. In 1876 Mr. Leonard Helsaple opened a wagon-re) )airing sliop. He sold out to Mr. W. H. Vance in 1878, who sold his building to Dennis Sullivan, who uses it as a sleeping-house for his boarders. In May, 1874, Charley Dalton started a merchandise and drug store in Dakota. Nathan Brown also owned and ran a store for some time in Dakota. In March, 1880, A. C. Brown started a general merchandise store. The latter is doing a flourishing business and at present he is acting postmaster.
Passage source: History of Winona County, published 1883.
The first persons that died at Dakota and were buried in Bluff Cemetery were : Mrs. Eliza A. Brown, first wife of Nathan Brown, and infant of the same. Mrs. Brown died July 21, 1854, child August 16, 1854. The following are the names of some of the old settlers in and about Dakota who are buried in the above graveyard : Susan, wife of Caleb Inman, died July 21, 1880, aged 70 years ; Mary, wife of C. S. Guynnup, died December 16, 1876, aged 58 ; Reynold H. Brown, died March 30, 1870, aged 72 ; Charles Brown, died July 17, 1870, aged 79 ; Alvina, wife of B. J. Moore, died November 4, 1875, aged 47 ; Anna J. Cleveland died July 2, 1878, aged 67; Phebe A., wife of Simon Mott, died September 27, 1861, aged 77; Sarah, wife of Leonard Helsaple, died September 16, 1880, aged 66.
Passage source: History of Winona County, published 1883.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Dakota City - it names this place 8 more 8 times.
Fires near this place
31 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 31 fires within 5 miles of Dakota between 1992 and 2019, burning about 66 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 | 10 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2003 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | LaCrosse District, Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge | PAMMEL CREEK FIRE |
| 31 July 1992 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 June 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 19-0479 |
| 6 May 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 May 1992 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 May 1992 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 27 May 1992 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 27 May 1992 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 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
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Dakota: 1 producer, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dresbach Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Lacrosse County Highway Dept. Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
6 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dakota in 6 storm reports between 2004 and 2021: 5 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dakota | $200 | A few trees were blown down near Dakota. |
| June 2021 | Hail | Dakota | - | Walnut sized hail was reported in Dakota. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Dakota | - | Up to golf ball sized hail fell in Dakota. |
| December 2021 | Hail | Dakota | - | no account filed |
| September 2016 | Hail | Dakota | - | no account filed |
| October 2004 | Hail | Dakota | - | 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.
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 Dakota | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1858020 | 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 642598. 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.