Rushford, Minnesota
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Rushford City. It lies in ZIP code area 55971. It stands on Rush Creek. The Survey maps it on the Rushford West quadrangle. 1,860 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 728 feet above sea level.
On record in Rushford
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 5 records
Rushford City Milllisted 1982
Rushford Wagon and Carriage Companylisted 1982
Southern Minnesota Depotlisted 1986
Walker and Valentine Houselisted 1982- Norway Township Stone Houselisted 1982
Population over time
2 figuresRushford grew from 1,731 to 1,860 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 | 1,731 | |
| 2020 | 1,860 | +129 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 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.
- 1954 USGS Lewiston quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Rushford West quadrangle1:24000
- 1976 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS La Crosse quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
13 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Rushford between 1992 and 2015, burning about 151 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 May 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 April 1997 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 April 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 19 April 1994 | Debris and open burning | 50 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 18 April 1996 | Debris and open burning | 30 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 17 April 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 14 April 1995 | Smoking | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 13 April 1997 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
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 Rushford: 3 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isberg Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Le Fleur Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Peterson Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Storms near this place
22 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rushford in 22 storm reports between 1997 and 2022: 9 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 flood. 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 2007 | Flash Flood | Rushford | $38,000,000 | Heavy rain that was centered north of the county caused Rush Creek to flash flood on historic levels. In addition to Rush Creek, every other creek that leads into Rushford had tremendous accumulation that led to flood waters raging into town. The water backed up against the levees normally used to keep flood waters out from the nearby Root River and ended up flooding most of the town, including the entire downtown area.||In Rushford specifically, two thirds of the town was under water at some point. About 300 people had to be rescued. 490 of the 766 homes were flooded or had damage (79 were declared structurally unsound). 58 of the 70 businesses in town were damaged impacting nearly 500 of the 600 jobs in town. A total of 4 churches and 40 apartment buildings were also impacted.||Damage was widespread across the county, especially the northeast parts. Infrastructure was hit hard with numerous road closures and bridge damage. Numerous mud slides were reported. At least 704 homes applied for FEMA assistance. |
| August 2007 | Flood | Rushford | $11,000,000 | Law enforcement officials reported some roads washed out or still under water. The town of Rushford was inundated with flood waters from Rush Creek. In addition, the Root River at Rushford reached at an all-time record crest of 28.98 feet. As a result of flood waters, numerous homes, businesses and vehicles were damaged. In fact, two-thirds of the homes in Rushford were estimated to have been extensively damaged. |
| September 2016 | Flash Flood | Rushford | $1,600,000 | Heavy rain caused Sugar Creek to flood with water going over County Highway 8 west of Fountain. Flooding on Duschee Creek caused State Highway 16 to be closed southwest of Lanesboro. State Highway 16 was also closed west of Whalan due to a mudslide. Downed trees blocked U.S. Highway 52 south of Chatfield and State Highway 43 near Rushford. Ox Cart Road suffered severe damage from a mudslide. Flood waters completely covered Riverside Campground and 70 campers had to be evacuated from the Highway 250 Campground. Numerous township roads were also damaged by the flooding. |
| August 1998 | Flash Flood | Rushford | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Rushford | $20,000 | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Hail | Rushford | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rushford | $5,000 | An estimated 65 mph wind gust occurred in Rushford that blew down trees and power lines. Some pea sized hail also occurred. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rushford | $5,000 | A shed was demolished from strong thunderstorm winds. Debris from the shed was blown into nearby fields. A garage was also pushed free of a nearby home. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rushford | $3,000 | Several trees were blown down near Rushford. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rushford | $3,000 | Several trees were blown down in and near Rushford. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rushford | $2,000 | Several trees were blown down in Rushford. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rushford | $2,000 | Large tree branches were broken southeast of Rushford. |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rushford | $2,000 | A power pole was bent by wind gusts along State Highway 43 in Rushford. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rushford | $1,500 | Several 3 to 6 inch diameter tree branches were blown down throughout the city of Rushford. |
| August 2019 | Hail | Rushford | - | Quarter sized hail was reported near Rushford. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Rushford | - | Quarter sized hail fell in Rushford. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Rushford | - | Golf ball sized hail fell in Rushford. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Rushford | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Rushford | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Rushford | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Rushford | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Flood | Rushford | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Rushford | 0.9 miles | 10 | |
| Rushford Village | 2.0 miles | 10 | |
| Peterson | 4.6 miles | 10 | |
| Bratsberg | 5.1 miles | 8 | |
| Arendahl | 8.4 miles | 10 | |
| Choice | 10.4 miles | 8 | |
| Whalan | 10.6 miles | 9 | |
| Highland | 10.8 miles | 8 |
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 Rushford | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2228999 | 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 650417. 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.







