Thief River Falls, Minnesota

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Thief River Falls City. It lies in ZIP code area 56701. It stands on Thief River. The Survey maps it on the Thief River Falls quadrangle. 8,749 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,132 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Thief River Falls within Pennington County

On record in Thief River Falls

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 3 records

Minneapolis St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Depotlisted 1995
Thief River Falls Public Librarylisted 1983
Thief River Falls Auditorium and Municipal Buildinglisted 2020

Population over time

2 figures

Thief River Falls grew from 8,573 to 8,749 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	8,573
2020	8,749	+176 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 10 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.

1943 USGS Thief River Falls quadrangle1:62500
1952 USGS Thief River Falls quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1956 USGS Thief River Falls quadrangle1:250000
1957 USGS Thief River Falls quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS Thief River Falls quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1967 USGS Thief River Falls quadrangle1:250000
1985 USGS Thief River Falls quadrangle1:100000
1992 USGS Thief River Falls quadrangle1:100000

Fires near this place

2 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Thief River Falls between 1999 and 2020, burning about 100 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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	2

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
30 April 2020	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
25 April 1999	Arson/incendiarism	100 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pennington 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 Thief River Falls: 1 producer. All of them still produce. 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	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Halverson Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Pennington County

Storms near this place

53 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Thief River Falls in 53 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 24 hail, 22 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 funnel cloud. 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
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	$50,000	Strong thunderstorm winds damaged several buildings and blew down trees in the Thief River Falls area. Estimated damage was $10,000.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	$20,000	Large cottonwood trees were uprooted and a grain bin was demolished.
July 2014	Flash Flood	Thief River Falls	$10,000	Over two inches of rain fell in an hour, which caused street flooding throughout the city.
July 2001	Flash Flood	Thief River Falls	$10,000	Street flooded was reported with numerous cars stalled.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	$2,000	Trees were blown down.
August 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	$2,000	Numerous trees were blown down.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	$1,000	Trees were damaged by the wind.
July 2023	Lightning	Thief River Falls	$500	Mayor of Thief River Falls, MN reports a tree in his backyard took a direct strike from lightning. Still standing but damaged. No fatalities or injuries.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	$500	Branches were blown down.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Road sign damaged by wind and twisted.
September 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Broken tree branches reported.
July 2022	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	Dime to nickel sized hail covering the ground was reported by a trained spotter.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Trees were uprooted on the northwest side of town.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Roofing was torn off a trailer home and numerous large tree branches were blown down.
July 2018	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	The hail nearly covered the ground.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	The wind gust was measured by the AWOS at the Thief River Falls airport.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	A few trees were uprooted and numerous large branches were blown down around town. One small radio tower was bent over in the middle and a wooden billboard was blown down.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Numerous large tree branches were blown down. Metal and plastic business signage was blown about.
July 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Numerous trees were blown down in Thief River Falls, knocking out power to some areas.
August 2013	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	The hail fell two miles east of the Thief River Falls airport.
July 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Light poles, power lines, and hundreds of trees were blown down. Peak winds across the central part of town were estimated at 60 to 80 mph.
July 2011	Funnel Cloud	Thief River Falls	-	A persistent funnel cloud passed just east of the community of Thief River Falls during the Pennington County Fair.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Several 6 to 8 inch diameter poplar trees were blown down in shelterbelts.
May 2011	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	The time was approximated from a facebook report.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Four inch diameter tree limbs were blown down. Powerlines were also knocked down.
July 2006	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	The hail fell near the Pennington and Red Lake county line.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Siding and facia were ripped off a house by the strong wind.
June 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Large tree branches were blown down. A 17 foot boat and a trailer were blown about a half a block.
June 2002	Flash Flood	Thief River Falls	-	Many rural roads were under water.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	Numerous large trees were blown down. The wind speed was measured by a Davis system. Two powerlines were also blown down.
July 1998	Tornado (F0)	Thief River Falls	-	A tornado touched down briefly in a field.
July 2022	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
June 2020	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
July 2018	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
July 2015	Funnel Cloud	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
August 2015	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
May 2010	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
June 2007	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
May 2005	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
July 2005	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
July 2005	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
May 2004	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
May 2004	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
July 2001	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
August 2001	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
July 2001	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
September 2001	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
August 2001	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
August 2001	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
June 2000	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed
August 2000	Hail	Thief River Falls	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Pennington 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Basswood Court	0.0 miles	10
Greendale Manor	0.0 miles	10
Challenger Court	1.5 miles	10
Dakota Junction	2.8 miles	10
Saint Hilaire	7.5 miles	10
Hazel	7.7 miles	10
Mavie	13.0 miles	6
Carpenters Corner	13.9 miles	10

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 Thief River Falls	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q636832	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 653129. 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.