Butterfield, Missouri
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Butterfield Township. The Survey maps it on the Purdy quadrangle. 378 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,529 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresButterfield fell from 470 to 378 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 | 470 | |
| 2020 | 378 | -92 (-20%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 11 printed sheetsMatched 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 Monett quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1945 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Purdy quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Table Rock Lake quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
78 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 78 fires within 5 miles of Butterfield between 1992 and 2020, burning about 575 acres in total. None started naturally. 4 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 | 33 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24 |
| Smoking | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 7 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 6 September 2000 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 4 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 6 August 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 177596-00505-08062018-1314 |
| 4 August 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 177595-00505-08042018-1555 |
| 4 August 2000 | Smoking | 2.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 2 August 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.4 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 177594-00505-08022018-2021 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Butterfield: 4 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Lead, Zinc. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown - Lead-Zinc | Lead, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - S+G | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
34 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Butterfield in 34 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 10 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 8 flash flood, 4 heavy rain. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Butterfield | $50,000 | Multiple large trees were reported down. An out building also suffered significant damage and a machine shed was damaged as well. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Butterfield | $25,000 | High winds damaged two poultry houses. |
| March 2017 | Tornado (EF0) | Butterfield | $25,000 | A National Weather Service survey determined that a tornado damaged a home to the east northeast of Butterfield. Estimated peak wind speed was 75 mph. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Butterfield | $10,000 | Several trees were reported down some on power lines along Highway 39. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Butterfield | $10,000 | There were multiple trees blown down. At least one tree fell on to a house. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Butterfield | $5,000 | Several trees were uprooted or snapped and a home suffered minor roof damage. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Butterfield | $1,000 | A downed tree blocked both lanes of Highway U about three miles east of Butterfield. |
| May 2025 | Heavy Rain | Butterfield | - | Storm total rainfall amount of 3 inches from May 23 through May 27. |
| September 2025 | Flash Flood | Butterfield | - | State Highway U was closed due to flooding. |
| April 2024 | Flood | Butterfield | - | Route U was closed at a low water area due to heavy rainfall and flooding. |
| February 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Butterfield | - | A large tree was reported uprooted and laying across Highway YY blocking traffic. |
| March 2023 | Flash Flood | Butterfield | - | Route U at Flat Creek was flooded and impassable due to flooding. |
| March 2023 | Hail | Butterfield | - | Nickle sized hail and heavy rain was reported. |
| April 2021 | Hail | Butterfield | - | Half dollar sized hail was reported. |
| June 2019 | Flash Flood | Butterfield | - | Flooding caused several vehicles to be stranded on Highway W west of Highway 37. |
| June 2019 | Flash Flood | Butterfield | - | Heavy rainfall caused flooding on Farm Roads 2115 and 1100 making them impassable to traffic. |
| October 2019 | Heavy Rain | Butterfield | - | The CoCoRaHS station mo-by-5 near Purdy reported 2.44 inches of rainfall. |
| April 2017 | Flash Flood | Butterfield | - | Route U was impassable and closed due to flooding. |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | Butterfield | - | Highway Y was flooded from Flat Creek. |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | Butterfield | - | Highway U was closed at Flat Creek. |
| July 2015 | Flash Flood | Butterfield | - | State Route U Highway at Flat Creek was flooded and closed. |
| December 2015 | Heavy Rain | Butterfield | - | There was a report of 7.40 inches of rainfall in 24 hours. |
| August 2013 | Flood | Butterfield | - | The low water bridge on County Road 2140 and Highway Y was flooded and impassable. |
| September 2011 | Heavy Rain | Butterfield | - | A weather observer measured over four inches of rainfall during an eight hour time period with unspecified minor flooding reported. |
| March 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Butterfield | - | Within the community of Butterfield, a few trees were downed from severe thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| May 2015 | Hail | Butterfield | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Hail | Butterfield | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Butterfield | - | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Hail | Butterfield | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Butterfield | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Butterfield | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Butterfield | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Butterfield | - | no account filed |
| April 1998 | Hail | Butterfield | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burtonville | 3.3 miles | 11 | |
| Travers | 3.8 miles | 13 | |
| Purdy | 4.7 miles | 11 | |
| East Purdy | 4.8 miles | 11 | |
| Star City | 5.2 miles | 11 | |
| Cassville | 5.4 miles | 13 | |
| Exeter | 5.7 miles | 12 | |
| Corsicana | 5.7 miles | 11 |
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 Butterfield | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2489437 | 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 735546. 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.








