BlockSmiths Mill, Minnesota
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Janesville Township. It lies in ZIP code area 56048. The Survey maps it on the Madison Lake quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 13 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.
- 1950 USGS Mankato East quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1951 USGS Mankato East quadrangle1:62500
- 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
- 1974 USGS Madison Lake quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Faribault quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
970 words on this townshipChild's History of Waseca County, Minnesota : from Its First Settlement in 1854 to the Close of the Year 1904, a Record of Fifty Years : the Story of the Pioneers, published 1905 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.
The chapter on Janesville Township covers the township.
Read the chapter on Janesville Township - 970 words.
Fires near this place
17 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Smiths Mill between 2006 and 2012, burning about 119 acres in total. None started naturally. 14 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 November 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 November 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 November 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 October 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 October 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 October 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 October 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 October 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
4 since 2017Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Smiths Mill in 4 storm reports between 2017 and 2024: 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2018 | Tornado (EF1) | Smiths Mill | 1 hurt | A National Weather Service storm survey concluded that an EF1 tornado tracked 7.1 miles from near the Blue Earth, Waseca county line, northwest of Janesville, then over Lake Elysian, before lifting near the Le Sueur, Waseca county line. Tornado damage was consistent with EF1 damage with winds up to 105 mph, and a maximum path width of 440 yards. Shortly after touchdown, it hit a home and removed its roof and destroyed the garage. A man in the garage was blown into the yard and suffered a minor injury, but did not require hospitalization. Other damage was confined to trees, outbuildings, and homes. There was also isolated damage on the south side of the tornado track due to severe inflow. Damage was confined to large trees and outbuildings on east side of Lake Elysian. |
| August 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Smiths Mill | - | After moving east-southeast in Blue Earth County, the tornado entered Waseca County and turned to the southeast. It mostly moved across fields but it did break or uproot dozens of trees. It flipped a tractor on its side. Toward the end of its path, the tornado blew in a garage door of an old barn. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smiths Mill | - | Several trees were blown down and corn was flattened. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Smiths Mill | - | Two trees were blown down southwest of Janesville, near the intersection of County Road 14, and 360th Avenue. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Elysian | 3.0 miles | 10 | |
| Janesville | 3.5 miles | 9 | |
| Alma City | 8.2 miles | 9 | |
| Saint Mary | 11.6 miles | 11 | |
| Palmer | 12.0 miles | 10 | |
| Colony Court | 14.1 miles | 11 | |
| Waseca | 14.4 miles | 11 | |
| Waldorf | 14.5 miles | 7 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 652188. 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.
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.