Des Arc, Missouri
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1926 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Union Township. It lies in ZIP code area 63636. It stands on Black Creek. The Survey maps it on the Des Arc quadrangle. 131 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 551 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresDes Arc fell from 177 to 131 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 | 177 | |
| 2020 | 131 | -46 (-26%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 20 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.
- 1926 USGS Des Arc quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1929 USGS Des Arc quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1949 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Des Arc quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1971 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Piedmont quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
22 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 22 fires within 5 miles of Des Arc between 1993 and 2020, burning about 351 acres in total. None started naturally. 7 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 | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.7 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 220626-02220-08172020-1530 |
| 30 June 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 25 May 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 2.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 20 May 1997 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 9 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 29 April 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 25 April 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 2 April 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 17 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 17 workings within 5 miles of Des Arc: 8 past producers, 6 occurrences, 1 producer, 1 prospect. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Granite, Lead, Silver. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentiferrous Lead Mine | Lead, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Granite | Past Producer | ||
| Duncan Brothers Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Gads Hill Quarry - Plant | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | Surface | |
| Unknown - Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Ls | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Bear Mountain Bank | Iron | Occurrence | Limonite | |
| Clarks Mountain | Iron | Occurrence | ||
| Graves Iron Mine | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Graves Mine | Iron | Past Producer | 1905, 1906 |
Storms near this place
6 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Des Arc in 6 storm reports between 2013 and 2025: 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flood, 1 hail. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 2025 | Tornado (EF3) | Des Arc | 2 hurt, $800,000 | In Iron County the tornado caused some of its most significant damage in Des Arc where residences were significantly damaged. Two injuries were confirmed here. The tornado continued to track northeast beyond Des Arc where it caused damage to a few more residences, an outbuilding, and numerous trees. It then exited into Madison County. In Iron County the tornado was rated EF-3 with a path length of 7.64 miles and a maximum path width of 800 yards. |
| May 2025 | Tornado (EF2) | Des Arc | - | An EF-2 tornado touched down in Des ARc and tracked for 3.26 miles. Some buildings damaged by a tornado on March 14th were damaged again by this tornado. |
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Des Arc | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down a couple of trees onto Highway 143 just east of intersection with Highway 49. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Des Arc | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees and power lines along County Road 163 just northeast of Des Arc. |
| January 2013 | Flood | Des Arc | - | Between one and three inches of rain fell over an extended amount of time onto partially frozen ground causing runoff. Numerous creeks and rivers rose due to the runoff. Several low water crossings were flooded as well as Highway BB west of Vulcan and Highway 49 near Des Arc. |
| April 2018 | Hail | Des Arc | - | 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.
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 Des Arc | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2127278 | 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 716847. 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.












