Topelius, Minnesota

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Newton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 56567. The Survey maps it on the Deer Creek quadrangle. The federal gazetteer marks this settlement historical: it is no longer a populated place, though the surveys that recorded it still are.

Topelius within Otter Tail County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 9 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.

1953 USGS Brainerd quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1957 USGS Brainerd quadrangle1:250000
1958 USGS Brainerd quadrangle1:250000
1965 USGS Brainerd quadrangle1:250000
1969 USGS Deer Creek quadrangle1:24000
1986 USGS Battle Lake quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

In the county-history sources

21 words on this township

Otter Tail County, Minnesota, in the World War;, published 1919 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Newton Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Newton Township - 21 words.

Fires near this place

16 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Topelius (historical) between 1992 and 2017, burning about 401 acres in total. None started naturally. 5 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
Debris and open burning	8
Arson/incendiarism	5
Equipment and vehicle use	2
Railroad operations and maintenance	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
19 June 1995	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
6 April 2012	Debris and open burning	10 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
4 April 2017	Debris and open burning	45 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
30 April 1996	Debris and open burning	4.0 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
3 April 2005	Equipment and vehicle use	22 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
27 April 2003	Arson/incendiarism	130 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	LEAF RIVER FIRE
27 April 1992	Arson/incendiarism	2.5 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
21 April 1998	Debris and open burning	27 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Otter Tail 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 Topelius (historical): 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
	Weniger Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Otter Tail 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
Bluffton	2.9 miles	9
West Wind Estates	2.9 miles	9
New York Mills	5.5 miles	9
Deer Creek	6.4 miles	9
Heinola	6.6 miles	9
Davies	8.5 miles	9
Lyman	9.8 miles	9
Leaf City (historical)	10.8 miles	9

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 2073022. 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.