BlockBefore

Spruce, Minnesota

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1977. It stands in Clinton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 55751. The Survey maps it on the Eveleth quadrangle.

Spruce within St. Louis County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 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.

Fires near this place

276 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 276 fires within 5 miles of Spruce between 1992 and 2020, burning about 524 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 75 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/incendiarism75
Debris and open burning68
Railroad operations and maintenance55
Missing data/not specified/undetermined25
Equipment and vehicle use25
Recreation and ceremony12
Smoking4
Natural4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Other causes2

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
9 September 2005Naturalunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 September 2006Recreation and ceremony3.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 September 2006Railroad operations and maintenance71 acresMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesJUNCTION 101 FIRE
26 September 1995Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
10 September 2012Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 August 2001Railroad operations and maintenance1.1 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 August 2012Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMinnesota 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 53 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 53 workings within 5 miles of Spruce: 39 past producers, 10 producers, 2 plants, 2 prospects. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Aluminum, Manganese, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Silica, Water, Free, Manganese, Silica, Aluminum, Water, Free, Phosphorus-Phosphates. 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
Magnetic Taconite Mesabi Range 17wIron, Water, FreeProspectSurface
Security MineIron, Manganese, Silica, Aluminum, Water, Free, Phosphorus-PhosphatesPast Producer1961
Gulbranson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gulbranson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Sly PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Aad MineIronPast Producer1904
Alice MineIronPast ProducerHematite, Magnetite
Alice MineIronPast Producer
Auburn MineIronProducerHematite, Magnetite

Every working recorded in St. Louis County

Storms near this place

3 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Spruce in 3 storm reports between 2014 and 2023: 3 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
September 2023Thunderstorm WindSpruce-Numerous trees were down onto power lines just off County Road 7 near Old Mesaba and Ramshaw roads and the CN Railroad tracks. Tree limbs ranged in diameter from 4 to 12 inches and were broken about 20 feet off the ground. The trees were a mix of popples, pines and maples.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindSpruce-Several trees were knocked down blocking Old Mesabi Road in Clinton Township.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindSpruce-A couple structures just west of Highway 53 were damaged when thunderstorm winds tore off outside walls.

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
Ramshaw1.0 miles12
Snowden2.0 miles12
Iron Junction2.2 miles12
Leonidas2.4 miles12
De Forest2.4 miles12
Eveleth2.7 miles12
Wolf2.9 miles12
Largo3.7 miles12

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 662523. 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.