Fairfax, Missouri
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Clark Township. It lies in ZIP code area 64446. The Survey maps it on the Fairfax quadrangle. 648 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 909 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresFairfax grew from 638 to 648 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 | 638 | |
| 2020 | 648 | +10 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 13 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.
- 1936 USGS Fairfax quadrangle1:24000
- 1939 USGS Tarkio quadrangle1:62500
- 1940 USGS Tarkio quadrangle1:62500
- 1941 USGS Tarkio quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Nebraska City quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Fairfax quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Falls City quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
17 since 2018Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Fairfax between 2018 and 2020, burning about 54 acres in total. None started naturally. None was 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 179103-00307-08192019-1510 |
| 4 July 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 230833-00307-07042020-2300 |
| 4 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 177635-00307-07042018-0130 |
| 3 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 177634-00307-07032018-0314 |
| 15 July 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 179101-00307-07152019-0659 |
| 8 April 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.3 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 190401-00307-04082020-1511 |
| 25 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 179097-00307-04252019-1005 |
| 19 April 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 200553-00307-04192020-1325 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Fairfax: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Storms near this place
31 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fairfax in 31 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 17 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1994 | Hail | Fairfax | $500,000 | Hail the size of tennis balls caused extensive damage to roofs, windows, and automobiles in Rockport, Tarkio, and Fairfax. Corn and bean crops in the area were also damaged. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Fairfax | $100,000 | Once the Missouri River started flooding on March 9, it remained in flood through the remainder of the month. The gauge in Brownsville, Nebraska - along the west bank of the Missouri River - reached 45.73 feet on March 16 (preliminarily a new record). The flooding was caused by several rounds of heavy snow across the Northern Plains through the winter months, followed by a rapid warm-up and several days of heavy rain. The Missouri River Basin across the Northern Plains flooded with catastrophic consequences as numerous dams and levees failed. As the water flowed into the Missouri River upstream of Atchison County, the river swelled and ultimately overwhelmed the levees along the river. Most the worst damage occurred near Watson, when a nearby levee failed and inundated the city with several inches of water. Local fields were also submerged, which delayed the growing season in the region, but several roads were washed away across Atchison County, and I-29 from St. Joseph northward to the Iowa/Missouri border was closed until mid May. Note: The dollar valued assigned to this event is likely inaccurate as a full tally of the extent of the physical damages is unknown. The Missouri River remained in flood through the rest of the month, into April. |
| March 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | $25,000 | Roof blown off shed. Trees damaged and highway signs snapped off on Highway 46. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | $10,000 | Emergency Manager reports massive blow down across southern Atchison county, from Fairfax to the county line. Widespread trees and power poles down. Entire corn fields mowed down by straight line winds. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | $2,000 | Power lines were reported down on Highway 59. |
| June 2008 | Flood | Fairfax | $2,000 | Levy break was reported near Fairfax on the Tarkio River. |
| October 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | - | Downed wires and widespread power outages in southeastern Atchison County. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | - | Tree limbs were blown down and a grain bin was blown over along Highway 59 near Fairfax. The size and condition of the tree limbs are unknown. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | - | An 18-wheel rig was blown over on Highway J west of Fairfax. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | - | Powerlines were down throughout the town of Fairfax. A few trees were uprooted and grain bins were down across the area. This report was received via social media. |
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | - | Dispatch received a report of 70-80 mph wind near Fairfax, Missouri. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Fairfax | - | Dime size hail lasted for three minutes. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 60 mph. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | - | Trees were reported down. Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 60 mph. |
| August 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Fairfax | - | Brief tornado touchdown at 1745 CST just north northwest of Fairfax. No damage or injuries reported. |
| April 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairfax | - | Unspecified wind damage was reported along I-29. |
| August 1998 | Hail | Fairfax | - | Nickel-size hail was reported during a severe thunderstorm 3 miles north of Fairfax. |
| June 2022 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| March 2009 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Fairfax | - | no account filed |
| June 2000 | Hail | Fairfax | - | 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 Fairfax | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q961574 | 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 717732. 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.








