BlockBefore

Sparta, Minnesota

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1977. It stands in Gilbert City. It lies in ZIP code area 55734. The Survey maps it on the Gilbert quadrangle.

Sparta within St. Louis County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 11 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

240 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 240 fires within 5 miles of Sparta between 1992 and 2020, burning about 535 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 83 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/incendiarism83
Debris and open burning46
Equipment and vehicle use30
Railroad operations and maintenance29
Missing data/not specified/undetermined24
Recreation and ceremony14
Misuse of fire by a minor5
Natural4
Smoking2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Other causes1

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
30 September 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 August 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 August 2006Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
29 August 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 August 2007Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
16 August 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 August 2006Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
9 July 2006Arson/incendiarism1.1 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in St. Louis County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 134 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 134 workings within 5 miles of Sparta: 110 past producers, 16 producers, 6 prospects, 1 occurrence. 16 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Water, Free, Aluminum, Manganese, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Silica, Water, Free. 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
Cloquet Annex Reserve X-62Iron, Aluminum, Manganese, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Silica, Water, FreePast Producer1943
Corsica MineIron, Aluminum, Silica, Manganese, Water, Free, Phosphorus-PhosphatesPast Producer1901
Jl-47 Reserve Jl-47Iron, Manganese, Aluminum, Silica, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Water, FreeProspect
Security MineIron, Manganese, Silica, Aluminum, Water, Free, Phosphorus-PhosphatesPast Producer1961
Magnetic Taconite Mesabi Range 17wIron, Water, FreeProspectSurface
Rouchleau GroupIron, Water, FreePast Producer1943
Gulbranson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gulbranson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Sly PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Aad MineIronPast Producer1904

Every working recorded in St. Louis County

Storms near this place

2 since 2020

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sparta in 2 storm reports between 2020 and 2025: 1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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
June 2025Thunderstorm WindSparta-Trees were down on powerlines.
June 2020HailSparta-no account filed

Every storm recorded in St. Louis 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
Gilbert1.6 miles11
Genoa1.7 miles12
Midway3.0 miles12
Elcor3.2 miles13
Eveleth3.3 miles12
Snowden4.0 miles12
Rainy Junction4.2 miles12
McKinley4.7 miles13

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 662502. 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.