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Hardwick, Minnesota

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Hardwick City. It lies in ZIP code area 56134. The Survey maps it on the Edgerton South quadrangle. 189 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,604 feet above sea level.

Hardwick within Rock County

Population over time

2 figures

Hardwick fell from 198 to 189 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
2010198
2020189-9 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 7 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 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Hardwick in 2014, burning about 4 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
Debris and open burning1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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 July 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresWindom Wetland Management DistrictTOUCH THE SKY PRAIRIE
11 April 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Rock County

Storms near this place

44 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hardwick in 44 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 18 flood, 16 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. 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 2014FloodHardwick$200,000Repeated heavy rains caused record flooding of the Rock River. Numerous roads and some homes and businesses were flooded in Hardwick and Luverne. Farmland and other lowlands along the river were also flooded. In Luverne the flooding included parkland and part of Interstate 90, which was closed by the flooding. A dam break at Blue Mounds Lake in Blue Mounds State Park was determined to have added slightly to the flooding at Luverne. The river crested at a record 7.18 feet above flood stage at Hardwick, and at a record 6.85 feet above flood stage at Luverne, both on June 17th.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindHardwick$40,000Thunderstorm winds destroyed a barn, heavily damaged a house, and caused tree damage, including several trees blown down.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindHardwick$25,000Thunderstorm winds destroyed a barn, killing several cattle inside.
September 2019FloodHardwick$10,000After excessive two-day rainfall during September 10-12 (9.08 inches near Edgerton), the Rock River near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) reached the second highest stage on record of 6.14 feet above flood stage on September 12. Numerous county roads were under water south of Edgerton, with significant flooding of agricultural land.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindHardwick$5,000Thunderstorm Winds of unknown speed blew down trees.
June 2024Flash FloodHardwick-Heavy rainfall from 5 to 8 inches in the later evening and overnight hours brought widespread flooding to roads in areas to the east and south of Luverne. One water rescue occurred along Interstate 90 near mile marker 17 when a semi-truck tipped over in the ditch and was mostly covered by water. Interstate 90 was closed near Magnolia for several hours with water flowing over the roadway. The river gage near Hardwick on the Rock River reached flood stage at 2 am CST after three hours of heavy rainfall in the area. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for areal and river flooding for Rock County.
June 2024FloodHardwick-The Rock River near Hardwick rose above flood stage the morning of June 21st, cresting around 5.89 feet above flood stage (19.89 feet) on June 22nd. This crest is in the Major Stage. The river then fell below flood stage on the afternoon of June 25th. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for Rock County.
April 2023FloodHardwick-The Rock River near Hardwick, MN rose above flood stage on the evening of April 9th before cresting around 1.36 feet above flood stage (15.36 feet) on April 12th. The river then fell below flood stage on the morning of April 13th.
May 2022HailHardwick-Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindHardwick-Thunderstorm wind gust measured by a personal weather station. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
July 2020FloodHardwick-With rainfall of 2.09 inches at Edgerton and 2.04 inches at Luverne, the Rock River near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) rose briefly into minor flood stage with a crest 0.27 feet above flood stage. Low-lying agricultural lands near the river were flooded.
March 2019FloodHardwick-Snow melt and heavy rainfall (measured 1.77 inches near Edgerton) resulted in significant flooding of agricultural lands. The Rock River near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) reached the fifth highest stage on record cresting 2.63 feet above flood stage on March 20.
April 2019FloodHardwick-Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and early April produced considerable flooding of agricultural land. The Rock River near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) crested at 2.06 feet above flood stage on April 7.
April 2019FloodHardwick-Runoff following the major winter storm in mid-April produced brief flooding of agricultural land. The Rock River near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) crested at 0.54 feet above flood stage on April 16.
March 2018FloodHardwick-Heavy rainfall along with snow melt caused minor flooding of lowland agricultural areas along upper portions of the Rock River. The river reached a crest of 2.2 feet above flood stage near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) on March 6.
April 2018FloodHardwick-Snow melt and runoff from periods of heavier rainfall briefly produced minor flooding with impact to lowland agricultural areas. River levels reached 0.5 feet above flood stage on the Rock River near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) on April 24.
June 2018FloodHardwick-A week of periodic heavy rainfall ending June 26 resulted in a widespread 4 to 8 inches of rainfall, much of which occurred on June 20 and 24. Moderate flooding occurred with significant amounts of crop and pasture land inundated as the Rock River near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) crested 3.1 feet above flood stage on June 21. The river dropped below flood stage on June 23, but returned above flood stage June 26 and crested again at minor flood stage 0.4 feet above flood stage before falling below flood stage on June 27.
July 2018FloodHardwick-Significant amounts of crop and pasture land near the Rock River were impacted by minor flooding as river levels climbed to 2.7 feet above flood stage near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) on July 4.
September 2018FloodHardwick-Heavy rainfall on September 18-20 brought a widespread 3 to 5 inches of rainfall with 5.09 inches at Edgerton resulting in minor flooding of agricultural land. The Rock River near Hardwick (gage site HRDM5) crested 1.5 feet above flood stage at 0200LST on September 22.
June 2014HailHardwick-Golf ball size hail caused an unknown amount of damage to vehicles.
May 2012FloodHardwick-Heavy rain caused minor lowland flooding along the Rock River near Hardwick. The river crested at 1.02 feet above flood stage on May 7th.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindHardwick-Thunderstorm winds caused tree and power line damage, and a power outage. The winds were accompanied by quarter size hail.
May 2011HailHardwick-Large hail was accompanied by damaging wind gusts.
March 2010FloodHardwick-Rapid melting of a heavy winter snowpack caused flooding of farmland along the Rock River. The river crested at 2 feet above flood stage east of Hardwick on March 14th.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindHardwick-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including up to 4 inch diameter branches blown down.
September 2010FloodHardwick-Heavy rain caused flooding of the Rock River. Mainly farmland was affected, but a few roads near the river were flooded near where the river reaches the southern edge of the county which is the Iowa state line. The river crested at 2.73 feet above flood stage at Luverne.
March 2007FloodHardwick-Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Rock River to rise above flood stage for a few days. The flooding was generally minor, and no significant damage was reported. The river crested at around 2 feet above flood stage near Hardwick and at Luverne on March 14th.
April 2006FloodHardwick-Heavy rain caused the Rock River to rise to 1 to 2 feet above flood stage.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindHardwick-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down.
July 2004HailHardwick-Large hail fell in a swath from the north central to southeast parts of Rock County. Towns affected included Hardwick, Luverne, and Kanaranzi. The hail broke windows and damaged vehicles in Luverne. The hail also caused widespread damage to corn and soybean crops along its path with leaves stripped and stalks bruised.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindHardwick-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage. The amount of damage was not known.
September 2025HailHardwick-no account filed
July 2023HailHardwick-no account filed
July 2014HailHardwick-no account filed
June 2006HailHardwick-no account filed
August 2005HailHardwick-no account filed
August 2005Thunderstorm WindHardwick-no account filed
May 2004HailHardwick-no account filed
July 2004HailHardwick-no account filed
August 2000HailHardwick-no account filed
March 1998HailHardwick-no account filed
July 1997HailHardwick-no account filed
July 1997HailHardwick-no account filed
August 1996HailHardwick-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Rock 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
Kenneth6.9 miles7
Luverne8.4 miles8
Magnolia11.0 miles7
Beaver Creek14.1 miles8
Kanaranzi14.8 miles7
Ash Creek16.3 miles8
Manley17.7 miles8
Steen18.3 miles8

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 HardwickAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q627854The 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 644664. 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.