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Perham, Minnesota

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Perham Township. It lies in ZIP code area 56573. The Survey maps it on the Perham quadrangle. 3,512 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,368 feet above sea level.

Perham within Otter Tail County

On record in Perham

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

Population over time

2 figures

Perham grew from 2,985 to 3,512 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
20102,985
20203,512+527 (+18%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 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.

In the county-history sources

22 words on this township

Otter Tail County, Minnesota, in the World War;, published 1919 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Perham Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Perham Township - 22 words.

Fires near this place

19 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Perham between 1999 and 2020, burning about 251 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 use10
Debris and open burning3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Smoking1
Arson/incendiarism1

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
4 September 2003Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 July 2002Smokingunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
10 June 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
21 May 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
21 May 2002Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 May 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 May 2003Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
25 April 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Otter Tail County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Perham: 1 producer. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Perham Ready Mix Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Otter Tail County

Storms near this place

33 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Perham in 33 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 15 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 3 tornado, 2 flash flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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
July 2002LightningPerham1 hurtA 33 year-old man was struck by lightning while riding his motorcycle westbound on U.S. Highway 10. His wife, who was also on the motorcycle, was uninjured.
September 2004Tornado (F2)Perham$250,000A tornado tracked through pasture, forest, and corn fields. Numerous trees were knocked down and one farmstead received extensive barn, shed, and home damage. Twelve head of cattle were killed. Several trees were toppled onto homes near Marion Lake. Farmyard debris was carried as far as Perham, about 7 miles northeast.
May 2022Tornado (EF1)Perham$150,000This tornado was wrapped in damaging downburst winds and rain as it rapidly tracked to the north northeast, into and across Big Pine Lake. Numerous poplar, ash, spruce, and pine trees were snapped or uprooted. One garage had an overhead door blown in and the back wall blown out, though the roof remained intact. Peak wind estimated to 100 mph. Time estimated based on radar.
June 2018Flash FloodPerham$10,000Over five inches of rain fell in a short period of time. Drivers had to pull over because they could not see the road. The water ponded and ran off in all directions.
July 2010Flash FloodPerham$10,000Street flooding was caused by 4.25 inches of rain.
September 1998Thunderstorm WindPerham$10,000The Blue Horizon Ballroom lost part of its roof due to the wind.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindPerham$5,000Powerlines were blown down.
June 2013FloodPerham$3,000Runoff from heavy rains caused widespread flooding of local ditches, creeks, and fields across Corliss and Butler townships. County road eight east of county road 53 was closed for about half a day due to washouts along the shoulder. The city of Perham also experienced areas of street flooding.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindPerham$2,000Power poles were downed.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindPerham-Tree damage reported by public and relayed via broadcast media.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindPerham-Trees were snapped and roofs were damaged in Perham.
September 2014HailPerham-Penny to nickel sized hail covered the ground to a depth of one inch.
August 2013HailPerham-Pea to quarter size hail fell with winds over 50 mph.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindPerham-At least one large pine tree was snapped and several large tree branches were broken down by the strong winds.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindPerham-Numerous large four to eight inch diameter tree limbs were broken down. Two forty foot tall pine trees were snapped about ten feet above ground level.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindPerham-Many large trees were blown down in Perham.
July 2010Tornado (EF0)Perham-A waterspout formed on the north side of little Pine Lake but dissipated as it came to shore. A persistent wall cloud was viewed for several minutes by spotters in the Perham area.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindPerham-Many large trees were blown down near Round Lake.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindPerham-Several trees were blown down in town.
June 2005Funnel CloudPerham-A funnel cloud was seen dipping down from the parent wall cloud.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPerham-Numerous trees were broken or uprooted in and around Perham. One tree fell on a car. Tree damage also occurred along U.S. Highway 10.
September 1998HailPerham-Two inches of hail fell.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindPerham-Several hundred trees were blown down by strong thunderstorm winds.
June 2008HailPerham-no account filed
August 2006HailPerham-no account filed
July 2003HailPerham-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindPerham-no account filed
July 2000HailPerham-no account filed
July 2000HailPerham-no account filed
July 1999HailPerham-no account filed
August 1999HailPerham-no account filed
September 1998Thunderstorm WindPerham-no account filed
August 1994Thunderstorm WindPerham-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Otter Tail 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
Pine Cone Court0.9 miles12
Grand View Heights2.9 miles12
Richdale5.8 miles9
Luce6.1 miles12
Richville6.7 miles12
Dent8.1 miles12
Basswood11.5 miles13
New York Mills11.7 miles9

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 PerhamAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2228028The 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 649298. 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.