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Pillager, Minnesota

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Pillager City. It lies in ZIP code area 56473. It stands on Pillager Creek. The Survey maps it on the Pillager quadrangle. 507 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,211 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Pillager within Cass County

On record in Pillager

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

Pillager grew from 469 to 507 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
2010469
2020507+38 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 17 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

110 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 110 fires within 5 miles of Pillager between 1992 and 2020, burning about 275 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 12 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
Debris and open burning57
Equipment and vehicle use12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined12
Arson/incendiarism12
Recreation and ceremony9
Natural3
Smoking2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
6 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
30 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
10 September 2008Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 August 1996Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
28 August 2008Natural5.7 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
26 August 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
23 August 2003Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 August 1998Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Cass 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 Pillager: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. 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
Stark PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Cass County

Storms near this place

42 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pillager in 42 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 26 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2010Thunderstorm WindPillager$8,000Many trees were blown down, and power outages occurred. Some shingles were blown off a roof.
June 2025Tornado (EF1)Pillager-First of two tornadoes from a severe thunderstorm that crossed through Cass and Crow Wing Counties. The tornado began just north of Casino, Minnesota, and moved northeasterly for about 3.75 miles before taking an easterly turn near the end of Home Brook Lane on the south end of Hardy Lake. It then traveled east-southeast for about 7 miles and crossed into Crow Wing County while over Gull Lake. The tornado continued into Crow Wing County for about three-quarters of a mile moving back on shore then dissipating after crossing Sea Gull Road NW at 1643 CDT. Damage along the path was mainly limited to hardwood and softwood trees that were snapped about 10 to 20 feet up (DI 27/28, DOD 4). Near the beginning of the tornado, it moved across a homestead causing roof damage to the attached garage of a home and pushed the entire unanchored garage structure about one foot (DI 1, DOD 4).
July 2023HailPillager-Some damage to vehicles was observed.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindPillager-A few trees were down across Minnesota Highway 210.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindPillager-There were 3 to 4-inch diameter tree branches down from a living oak tree.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindPillager-Large trees fell and hit the powerlines. The trees had an estimated diameter of 18 inches.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindPillager-There were trees down, including one big oak, and a TV antenna and tower were blow down.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindPillager-The county sheriff reported a tree down.
September 2014Thunderstorm WindPillager-A 16 inch diameter tree snapped.
September 2014Thunderstorm WindPillager-A pole barn was destroyed.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindPillager-Power lines were blown down.
July 2009HailPillager-Some small branches were blown down by gusty winds, in addition to the hail that fell.
July 2008HailPillager-Hail fell for on-half hour.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindPillager-Two 18-inch diameter trees were blown down by the strong thunderstorm winds.
August 2007HailPillager-Wind gusts to 50 knots were also recorded.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindPillager-Mnay 30-foot tall trees were blown down by the strong thunderstorm winds.
August 2007HailPillager-There was also wind damage with at least ten 18-inch diameter trees blown down.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindPillager-Two large trees and several small trees were blown down.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindPillager-Twelve-inch diameter pine trees were blown down, and a couple of sheds were destroyed. The wind speed is estimated.
September 2025HailPillager-no account filed
July 2023HailPillager-no account filed
July 2023HailPillager-no account filed
July 2023HailPillager-no account filed
May 2022HailPillager-no account filed
May 2022HailPillager-no account filed
May 2022HailPillager-no account filed
May 2022HailPillager-no account filed
June 2022HailPillager-no account filed
July 2020HailPillager-no account filed
July 2020HailPillager-no account filed
July 2020HailPillager-no account filed
July 2020HailPillager-no account filed
May 2014HailPillager-no account filed
August 2012HailPillager-no account filed
July 2012HailPillager-no account filed
July 2009HailPillager-no account filed
June 2009HailPillager-no account filed
August 2007HailPillager-no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindPillager-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindPillager-no account filed
September 1998HailPillager-no account filed
July 1996HailPillager-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Cass 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
Sylvan3.6 miles17
Bridgeman6.8 miles10
Casino7.6 miles10
East Gull Lake8.3 miles15
Lake Shore12.3 miles15
Leader16.7 miles10
Graff17.2 miles9
Ellis17.3 miles10

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 PillagerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2229386The 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 649426. 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.