BlockHokah, Minnesota
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1930 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Hokah Township. It lies in ZIP code area 55941. It stands on Thompson Creek. The Survey maps it on the La Crescent quadrangle. 553 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 702 feet above sea level.
On record in Hokah
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
- Hokah Municipal Buildinglisted 2014
Population over time
2 figuresHokah fell from 580 to 553 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 | 580 | |
| 2020 | 553 | -27 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 14 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 La Crescent quadrangle1:24000
- 1976 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS La Crescent quadrangle1:24000
In the county-history sources
2,087 words on this townshipThe Advantages and Resources of Houston County, Minnesota, published 1858 names this settlement in its chapter on Hokah Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Is situated on section 5 and 6, town 1 03, and section 39, town 104, and is a plateau or bencli at the confiuence of Thompson's Creek with Root Hirer, and about 2.5 feet above the level of tho water of Root River. This bench is formed by the lower ends of valleys radiating from this point in almost every direction and each one atiordiug a good natural road back into the country and towards the Mississippi, a distance of five miles. This place is the first eligible pnint*^ for & town f^i te up the Root River, and occupies the g-ap between the blufis at the outlet of the Root River Valley. The bluffs from this point tall back from the river rapidly and give the mouth of the Valley a bell shape, witli low bottom larids between Kokah and the Mississippi River. The Root River Valley here is about 2 miles in width and supports a heavy growth of timber from the mouth 25 miles up the stream. Among the timber is to be found the finest quality of oak, black walnut, butterniu-,. hard and soft maple, white and black ash,basswood, cottouwcod, hackbeny and elm. The trees grow very tall, and large logs ai-e now lying h\ the mill yard, measuring 50 feet in le)iji,th, 4 feet through at the butt, and 3 feet at the top. Its'prineipal use here is for ship plant.
Passage source: The Advantages and Resources of Houston County, Minnesota, published 1858.
Hokah is the Indian name of Root River, as also the name of ii chief, who formerly had his village located en the.se same grounuK -vrhere there arc still innumerable Indian graves and other tnicos of Indian remains.
Passage source: The Advantages and Resources of Houston County, Minnesota, published 1858.
The first settlement at Hokah vras made by Ed^vavd Thon)p- Bon, Esq., as early as 1651. He was first induced to locate here by the fine opportunity offered to obtain a heavy water power upon a stream falling into Root River at tliis point, which subsequently received the name of Thompson's Creek. His first design was to raise the water 36 feet, but his dam pro'^^d insufficient, and, about the time his saw mill was ready for operation, the dam broke out. There being scarcely a white family in Houston County at that time, it seemed like a reckless undertaking. The water power obtained would be much heavier than demanded, but eraigr;ition soon set in, and Edward Thompson persevered in his undertaking, rebuilt the dam, obtaining 25 feet fall, and started his mill in the spring of l85i. In 1855 C. "W. Thompson bought into the water power, and erected a grint mill, and laid out the town. In 185(i about 30 buildings were erected ; in 1857 as many more. The water power was improved and a large shop erected, 44 by 80, four stories higli, with wattr wheels and line shaftijig, the design being to rent room and pov%-er for driving any kind of rcachinciy. The waJer power obtained by this dam is sufficfPnt to drive fifteen run cf stone. There is ako another and htavier water power in contemplation. By damming Root River three foet and racing across a short flat 6^ feet fidi can be obtained, with the whole of the water of Root iiiver, thereby creating an enormous power and the only heavy one that can be obtained as near the Mississippi for a hundred miles abo^ or below this point. The proximity of Hokah to the great ra^road crossing, (La Crosse,) with timber above on Root Kiver to supply all kinds of manufactures, and navigation on the river below to La Crosse, (10 miles, by way of the river,) to facilitate the transjDortation of manufactiu-ed articles, certainly settles its claims as a manufacturing town.
Passage source: The Advantages and Resources of Houston County, Minnesota, published 1858.
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 Hokah Township - it names this place 4 more 4 times.
Fires near this place
37 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 37 fires within 5 miles of Hokah between 1992 and 2015, burning about 275 acres in total. 1 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 burning | 15 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 9 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 June 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 May 2008 | Natural | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 5 May 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 May 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 May 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 April 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 195 acres | LaCrosse District, Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge | LAWRENCE LAKE |
| 7 April 2007 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 April 1995 | Debris and open burning | 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
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Hokah: 4 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conniff Quarry & Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Gap Hill Quarry & Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Horn Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Zaiger Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
25 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hokah in 25 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 11 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. The reports record 30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Hokah | 30 hurt, $27,000,000 | At least 50 mudslides were reported across the county with four state highways and eight county roads closed. At one point 20 roads were closed across the county. Some homes collapsed or were carried away by mudslides. Numerous railroad tracks and bridges washed out. There were numerous reports of injuries. Hardest hit communities included Houston, Hokah, La Crescent and Brownsville. A 25 foot earthen dam near Hokah, which was built in 1921, collapsed. This caused significant damage to a portion of the town, including the main park and an automobile dealership. First calls of flooding began around 9:30 p.m. Saturday August 18 to dispatch center, with flooding problems becoming exceedingly worse afterwards.||4,200 homes were reportedly damaged or destroyed. |
| August 2018 | Flash Flood | Hokah | $720,000 | Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Root River out of its banks and over State Highway 16 near Hokah. Flooding also occurred along Thompson Creek which destroyed Como Falls and carved a new path through Como Falls park. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Hokah | $330,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $30,000 | no account filed |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $25,000 | Two outbuildings were destroyed, other buildings were damaged and several large trees were snapped southeast of Hokah. |
| August 2007 | Heavy Rain | Hokah | $15,000 | The cooperative observer 1 mile south-southwest of Hokah reported a rainfall total of 15.60 inches. 12.73 inches of this rain fell between 8 p.m. August 18th and 3 a.m. August 19th, and a new 24-hour record of 15.10 inches set a new state record. |
| October 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $10,000 | A very localized thunderstorm wind gust damaged a farm house and some out buildings. Metal soffit pieces were torn off the house, a loosely secured out building and metal corral were moved several hundred feet, a 20 foot tall metal wind mill was bent over and an 8 to 10 inch diameter tree was snapped off. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $5,000 | Amateur radio groups reported a utility pole down on main street in Hokah near the post office. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $2,000 | Trees were blown down north of Hokah along County Road 21. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $2,000 | Trees were blown down. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $2,000 | Trees were blown down in Hokah. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $2,000 | Several trees were blown down southwest of Hokah along Highway 44. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Hokah | $1,000 | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $500 | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | $250 | A few trees were blown down northeast of Hokah. |
| May 2022 | Hail | Hokah | - | Half dollar sized hail fell near Hokah. |
| April 2011 | Hail | Hokah | - | Quarter size hail fell and the power was out near Hokah. |
| March 2010 | Flood | Hokah | - | The Root River near Hokah rose above the flood stage of 47 feet on March 13th. It crested at 48.10 feet at 7:00 a.m. on March 14th, then fell below flood stage on March 15th.||Only minor flooding was observed while the river level was above flood stage, with no damage reported. |
| June 2019 | Hail | Hokah | - | no account filed |
| June 2019 | Hail | Hokah | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Hokah | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Hokah | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Hokah | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Hokah | - | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hokah | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Village Terrace | 0.7 miles | 14 | |
| La Crescent | 5.2 miles | 14 | |
| Shepardson's Park | 5.5 miles | 14 | |
| Brownsville | 5.7 miles | 10 | |
| South Ridge | 6.2 miles | 13 | |
| River Junction | 6.5 miles | 14 | |
| Pine Creek | 6.6 miles | 13 | |
| Freeburg | 10.3 miles | 10 |
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 Hokah | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q377521 | 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 645066. 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.