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Birch Tree, Missouri

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1931 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Birch Tree Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65438. The Survey maps it on the Birch Tree quadrangle. 541 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 991 feet above sea level.

Birch Tree within Shannon County

Population over time

2 figures

Birch Tree fell from 679 to 541 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.

YearPeople Change
2010679
2020541-138 (-20%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 14 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

66 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 66 fires within 5 miles of Birch Tree between 1992 and 2019, burning about 2,482 acres in total. None started naturally. 36 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/incendiarism36
Debris and open burning21
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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 1998Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMark Twain National ForestTYLENOL 1
3 September 2001Debris and open burning2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
13 September 1995Debris and open burning2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
4 August 1999Debris and open burning3.0 acresMark Twain National ForestJ BOB FIRE
4 July 2012Arson/incendiarism24 acresMark Twain National ForestWARM CORNERS
15 July 1997Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
5 May 2015Arson/incendiarism80 acresMissouri Department of Conservation124130-09100-05052015-1430
4 May 1997Arson/incendiarism75 acresMark Twain National ForestSPOUSE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Shannon County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Birch Tree: 8 past producers, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Copper, Manganese, Clay. 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
Unknown Copper Usfs LandCopperPast Producer
Unknown Manganese Usfs LandManganese, ClayPast Producer
Bryson BankIronProspect
Clarence Ballance LandIronPast Producer1914
Cutler LandIronPast Producer
Esther B. Detwiler LandIronOccurrenceSurface
Iron Hill MineIronPast Producer
Ray Bowman ProspectIronPast Producer1936
Unknown IronIronPast Producer
Wooden Shoe MineIronPast ProducerLimonite

Every working recorded in Shannon County

Storms near this place

31 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Birch Tree in 31 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 22 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood. 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
March 2017HailBirch Tree$10,000This report was from social media with a picture. There was some damage to cars and windows in the Birch Tree area.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindBirch Tree$10,000A large tree fell on a police car.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindBirch Tree$5,000no account filed
May 2011Thunderstorm WindBirch Tree$2,000Several trees were blown down on Highway 60.
April 2025Flash FloodBirch Tree-Route MM between County Roads 651 and 99 was flooded at a low water area due to heavy rainfall.
April 2025Flash FloodBirch Tree-Several streets in town were flooded with water reported entering structures.
April 2020HailBirch Tree-Quarter sized hail was reported.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindBirch Tree-Several trees were blown down.
July 2018HailBirch Tree-Quarter size hail was reported.
March 2008Thunderstorm WindBirch Tree-Straight line winds blew a mobile home off of its foundation.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBirch Tree-Severe thunderstorm wind gusts downed a large tree into some power lines.
November 2003Thunderstorm WindBirch Tree-Several trees were downed along Highway Y south of Birch Tree from severe thunderstorm wind gusts.
May 2018HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 2018HailBirch Tree-no account filed
October 2014HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 2011HailBirch Tree-no account filed
April 2007HailBirch Tree-no account filed
June 2006HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 2006HailBirch Tree-no account filed
April 2005HailBirch Tree-no account filed
April 2005HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 2003HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 2003HailBirch Tree-no account filed
July 2003HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 2001HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 2001HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 2000HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 1996HailBirch Tree-no account filed
May 1996HailBirch Tree-no account filed
October 1996HailBirch Tree-no account filed
October 1996HailBirch Tree-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Shannon 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
Bartlett4.3 miles22
Montier4.4 miles12
Congo (historical)6.8 miles12
Tin Roof (historical)6.9 miles19
Teresita7.2 miles12
Buckhart Springs (historical)7.3 miles22
Not8.1 miles12
Delaware8.9 miles22

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 Birch TreeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q963821The 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 748866. 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.