Little Chicago, Minnesota
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Webster Township. It lies in ZIP code area 55057. It stands on Knowles Creek. The Survey maps it on the Little Chicago quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 10 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.
- 1953 USGS Saint Paul quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Saint Paul quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Little Chicago quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Faribault quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
7,969 words on this townshipHistory of Rice County, published 1882 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.
The chapter on Webster Township covers the township.
Read the chapter on Webster Township - 7,969 words.
Fires near this place
5 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Little Chicago between 2003 and 2012, burning about 7 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 use | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 December 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge | BLOOMINGOTN FERRY 1 |
| 6 December 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge | SORENSON LANDING 2 |
| 6 October 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 October 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge | CO RD 18 |
| 12 October 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.0 acres | Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge | CO RD 101 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Little Chicago: 3 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camp Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Concrete Materials Pit No 2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Elwood Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
10 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Little Chicago in 10 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 1 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2021 | Tornado (EF1) | Little Chicago | - | A storm chaser took video of a tornado moving in an open field and then along a line of trees. Some of the trees were uprooted and lofted a couple hundred feet in the air. A NWS damage survey also noted uprooted trees. |
| June 2021 | Hail | Little Chicago | - | Willingers golf course reported golf ball size hail near North Chicago. |
| September 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Chicago | - | A semi-trailer flipped over on I-35 north of Highway 19. There was a wind gust of 58 mph near Elko New Market near the time of the incident. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Chicago | - | There were numerous reports of large tree branches blown down north and east of Circle Lake in eastern Rice County. |
| May 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Chicago | - | A 3 foot diameter tree was uprooted near Circle Lake. |
| April 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Chicago | - | A 58 MPH wind gust was measured by a MNDOT weather sensor. A hay barn was downed nearby. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Chicago | - | Reported by MNDOT road weather report system. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Little Chicago | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Little Chicago | - | no account filed |
| August 1997 | Hail | Little Chicago | - | 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.
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 654800. 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.





