Cato, Missouri
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1927 and the latest in 1999. It stands in Mineral Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65605. It stands on Rockhouse Creek. The Survey maps it on the Shell Knob quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 16 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.
- 1927 USGS Shell Knob quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1945 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1950 USGS Shell Knob quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Shell Knob quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Table Rock Lake quadrangle1:100000
- 1999 USGS Shell Knob quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
66 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 66 fires within 5 miles of Cato between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,984 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 10 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 | 15 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 13 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 28 August 2011 | Natural | 23 acres | Mark Twain National Forest | PINEY |
| 27 August 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.1 acres | Mark Twain National Forest | PINEY |
| 26 August 2000 | Debris and open burning | 4.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 22 August 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 18 August 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Mark Twain National Forest | TENT RIDGE |
| 1 August 2012 | Smoking | under an acre | Mark Twain National Forest | 76-6 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Cato: 5 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Lead, Lead, Zinc, Lead, Silver, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynn Cave Prospect | Lead, Silver, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Lead | Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Lead-Zinc | Lead, Zinc | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
15 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cato in 15 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 5 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 4 heavy rain, 1 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2008 | Tornado (EF1) | Cato | $40,000 | A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-1 tornado touched down along the western side of Table Rock Lake near the community of Mano. The tornado tracked approximately six miles to the northeast and lifted approximately two miles east of Schell Knob. The tornado destroyed two boat docks near Mano and another boat dock near Schell Knob. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cato | $4,000 | Report of trees down in the Eagle Rock and Shell Knob areas. |
| May 2025 | Heavy Rain | Cato | - | Storm total rainfall amount of 2.42 inches from May 23 through May 27. |
| February 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cato | - | Several trees were reported down on Highway 76 east of Cassville. |
| February 2023 | Hail | Cato | - | Hail to the size of quarters was reported via MPing. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Cato | - | Hail up to pennies in size was reported. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Cato | - | Hail up to half dollars in size was reported. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Cato | - | Hail up to quarters in size was reported. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cato | - | The Mesonet station (CRWM7) in Cassville measured a 57 kt gust. |
| October 2019 | Heavy Rain | Cato | - | The Mesonet station CRWM7 at the Cassville RAWS site reported 3.58 inches of rainfall. |
| November 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cato | - | RAWS mesonet station measured a 73 knot wind as severe storms moved through the area. |
| April 2017 | Heavy Rain | Cato | - | A storm total rainfall of 4.00 inches was measured. |
| April 2017 | Heavy Rain | Cato | - | Rainfall of 6.96 was measured since midnight. Rainfall of 3.74 inches was measured in a three hour period. |
| May 2017 | Hail | Cato | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cato | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hailey | 1.6 miles | 16 | |
| Hill City | 3.8 miles | 16 | |
| Jenkins | 4.0 miles | 12 | |
| Lohmer | 4.1 miles | 16 | |
| Flat Creek (historical) | 4.5 miles | 12 | |
| Dale | 5.7 miles | 13 | |
| Oak Ridge | 6.0 miles | 13 | |
| Mineral Spring | 6.0 miles | 13 |
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 Cato | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q27983676 | 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 749254. 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.










