BlockBefore

Fair Play, Missouri

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1984. It stands in East Madison Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65649. It stands on Barren Creek. The Survey maps it on the Fair Play quadrangle. 422 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 981 feet above sea level.

Fair Play within Polk County

Population over time

2 figures

Fair Play fell from 475 to 422 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
2010475
2020422-53 (-11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 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

57 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 57 fires within 5 miles of Fair Play between 1992 and 2020, burning about 977 acres in total. 1 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 burning34
Missing data/not specified/undetermined12
Arson/incendiarism5
Smoking3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Natural1

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
23 September 1995Debris and open burning20 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
18 September 1995Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
4 August 1994Debris and open burning2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
25 July 1997Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
7 May 1997Smoking2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
23 April 1993Debris and open burning20 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
16 April 1994Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
16 April 1994Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Polk County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Fair Play: 3 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Iron. 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
Akard LandIronPast Producer
Bear Creek QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Fletcher QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unknown - LimestoneStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Polk County

Storms near this place

29 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fair Play in 29 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 14 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 2 tornado, 1 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
January 2020Tornado (EF1)Fair Play$500,000A National Weather Service survey determined that an EF1 tornado touched down to the southwest of Fair Play in Cedar County and tracked to the northeast for a total of 8.8 miles, lifting west of Dunnegan in Polk County with maximum winds of 110 mph. Shortly after touchdown and downing trees in Cedar County, the tornado completely destroyed a manufactured home as it crossed the county line at South 10th Road into Polk County. The tornado then continued tracking to the northeast. It passed just to the west and northwest of Fair Play before crossing Highway 123. The tornado lifted just to the west of Highway 13 and to the north of East 380th Road in Polk County. Along the path of the tornado there were several trees uprooted or snapped, damage to a few homes, and several outbuildings destroyed. The tornado produced EF1 damage with maximum winds up to 110 mph and a max width of 50 yards. The tornado was on the ground for 14 minutes along an 8.8 mile path.
April 2022HailFair Play$250,000Softball sized hail was reported in the town of Fair Play. Significant roof and vehicle damage occurred as the hail moved through the town. Damages for this event have been included in the Bolivar event entry.
December 2019Tornado (EF0)Fair Play$55,000A National Weather Service survey confirmed a brief EF-0 tornado began near Fair Play, MO southwest of Highway 123 and tracked for nearly a mile and a half with maximum winds of 80 mph. The tornado tracked northeast with a maximum width of 75 yards, crossing Highway 123 and lifting just before Barren Creek. A few farm buildings were damaged along the path, in addition to several uprooted trees, snapped trees and tree branches downed.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindFair Play$25,000Several trees and power lines were reported down.
February 2023Thunderstorm WindFair Play$5,000A small greenhouse was lofted by straight line winds and thrown 100 yards. Several metal pipes were also bent.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindFair Play$2,000Trees were reported down in Fair Play.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindFair Play$1,000There was roof damage to a barn.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindFair Play$1,000A tree was reported down on Road 123 south of Route 32 between Fair Play and Aldrich.
August 2017Heavy RainFair Play-A 24 hour rainfall total of 5.25 inches was measured at a CoCoRaHS station just east of Fair Play.
June 2015Flash FloodFair Play-South 60th Street near Highway 32 was flooded.
April 2012Thunderstorm WindFair Play-Numerous large limbs up to 6 inches in diameter were blown down and lying across Highway 123.
September 2012Thunderstorm WindFair Play-Several trees were blown down.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindFair Play-Large tree limbs were downed by thunderstorm wind gusts.
September 1995Thunderstorm WindFair Play-Thunderstorm winds damaged outbuildings in Arcola, and downed trees to the northeast of Arcola in southern Cedar County in the Fair Play areas.
May 2018HailFair Play-no account filed
March 2017HailFair Play-no account filed
April 2013HailFair Play-no account filed
May 2011HailFair Play-no account filed
April 2007Thunderstorm WindFair Play-no account filed
March 2006HailFair Play-no account filed
April 2006Thunderstorm WindFair Play-no account filed
March 2005HailFair Play-no account filed
March 2004HailFair Play-no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindFair Play-no account filed
May 2001HailFair Play-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindFair Play-no account filed
June 1998HailFair Play-no account filed
April 1996HailFair Play-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindFair Play-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Polk 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
Dunnegan5.4 miles14
Aldrich5.8 miles15
Cliquot6.7 miles19
Orleans (historical)8.0 miles15
Bolivar8.7 miles17
Karlin9.9 miles17
Wishart10.3 miles17
Eudora10.4 miles16

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 Fair PlayAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q957644The 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 735611. 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.