Ortonville, Minnesota
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Ortonville City. It lies in ZIP code area 56278. It stands on Whetstone River. The Survey maps it on the Ortonville quadrangle. 2,021 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,017 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Ortonville
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 4 records
Big Stone County Courthouselisted 1985
Columbian Hotellisted 1985
Ortonville Free Librarylisted 1985- Ortonville Commercial Historic Districtlisted 1985
Population over time
2 figuresOrtonville grew from 1,916 to 2,021 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 | 1,916 | |
| 2020 | 2,021 | +105 (+5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 7 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 Milbank quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Ortonville quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS Milbank quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Ortonville quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Milbank quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
12 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Ortonville between 1993 and 2020, burning about 632 acres in total. 1 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 1993 | Debris and open burning | 19 acres | Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge | DIMBERG-WF |
| 2 September 2015 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge | BALER |
| 29 July 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | I90-346 |
| 11 May 2004 | Natural | 354 acres | Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge | SELLIN |
| 10 May 2013 | Debris and open burning | 117 acres | Morris National Wildlife Refuge | 285G |
| 28 April 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Morris National Wildlife Refuge | CR65 |
| 12 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | TIRE FIRE |
| 1 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge | GRAHAM |
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 Ortonville: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Granite, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agate Quarry | Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Big Stone Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
42 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ortonville in 42 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 18 thunderstorm wind, 17 hail, 5 flood, 1 funnel cloud. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | A trained spotter surveying for damage reported multiple trees topped, uprooted or damaged at a farmstead northeast of Ortonville. Minor structural damage to a small grain bin and outbuilding included shingles torn from the roof. |
| April 2023 | Flood | Ortonville | - | The Minnesota River at Big Stone Lake reached a level of 972.7 or 1.2 feet above flood. An unknown number of cabins and businesses along the lake experienced some degree of flooding or water damage. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Sixty-five mph winds damaged a shed along with downing some large branches. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Eighty mph winds ripped the patio off of a house which also caused roof damage. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Eighty mph winds uprooted many trees at the Ortonville golf course. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Many large trees were downed by eighty mph winds. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Winds over 100 mph caused quite a bit of tree damage in Ortonville. Some trees were downed along with many tree branches. Some businesses sustained some facade damage. There were a few structures that suffered roof damage ranging from loss of shingles to a section of the roof being blown off. A storage building on the east side of town near the intersections of Highway 75 and 12 was blown down with a grain bin destroyed half mile east. Another grain bin suffered damage when it was hit by debris from the first grain bin. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Sixty mph winds were estimated in Ortonville. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Several large tree limbs were downed in Ortonville. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Winds gusting to 80 mph destroyed a barn and four grain bins near Ortonville. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Winds to 80 mph blew the roof off of the carpet store in Ortonville. The high winds also downed many large tree branches. |
| October 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | A garage was completely destroyed by damaging thunderstorm winds and doors on a nearby pole barn were blown off. |
| October 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | A line of thunderstorms producing straight line winds gusting to around 75 mph blew down several trees onto a home, a shed, and a motel in Ortonville damaging the structures. An uninhabited trailer home was rolled up hill by the strong winds. |
| May 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | Strong thunderstorm winds and large damaged cars and buildings in and around the Ortonville and Odessa areas. |
| July 1994 | Hail | Ortonville | - | Hail fell for several minutes and piled up about one-half foot deep on roads. |
| June 2025 | Flood | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| April 2023 | Flood | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| July 2020 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| March 2019 | Flood | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| April 2019 | Flood | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| July 2016 | Funnel Cloud | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Hail | Ortonville | - | no account filed |
| September 1996 | Hail | Ortonville | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cashtown | 0.5 miles | 7 | |
| Lagoona Beach | 4.8 miles | 7 | |
| Odessa | 6.9 miles | 7 | |
| Clinton | 10.7 miles | 7 | |
| Foster | 14.5 miles | 8 | |
| Big Stone Colony | 15.6 miles | 8 | |
| Correll | 16.0 miles | 6 | |
| Artichoke | 16.6 miles | 6 |
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 Ortonville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2031037 | 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 649005. 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.




