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Higbee, Missouri

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Moniteau Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65257. The Survey maps it on the Higbee quadrangle. 459 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 869 feet above sea level.

Higbee within Randolph County

Population over time

2 figures

Higbee fell from 568 to 459 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
2010568
2020459-109 (-19%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 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

5 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Higbee between 1999 and 2001, burning about 107 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/undetermined3
Debris and open burning1
Recreation and ceremony1

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
21 August 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
7 November 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
13 November 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined100 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
28 October 2001Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
23 October 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Randolph County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Higbee: 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Unknown - LimestoneStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - Ls.Stone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Randolph County

Storms near this place

19 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Higbee in 19 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 3 tornado. The reports record 4 deaths and 28 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2006Tornado (F3)Higbee4 killed, 26 hurt, $5,000,000Deadly tornado touched down at 2118 CST 2 miles east of Higbee. The tornado traveled northeast and attained F3 strength near the Monroe/Randolph county line. The tornado killed 4 people just to the east and southeast of Renick and there were 26 injuries. 13 of the injuries occurred when a bus transporting college students was overturned. Three businesses were destroyed as well as 30 residences. Thirty other dwelling places had minor to moderate damage. The tornado exited Randolph county into Monroe county at 2133 CST...8 miles southeast of Moberly.
December 2017Tornado (EF1)Higbee2 hurt, $200,000This tornado formed just east of Higbee and just west of Road 2550. The tornado lasted approximately 15 minutes, and traveled around 10 miles. The worst of the damage occurred just south of Moberly, near the town of Renick, where a mobile home and a house built into an earthen berm were completely destroyed, injuring one of the occupants. Vehicles in the area were also tossed long distances, and several outbuildings were destroyed. The tornado eventually dissipated just west of the Randolph/Monroe County line, just south of Highway M.
December 2017Thunderstorm WindHigbee$50,000A weakened brick building was destroyed by strong winds preceding the tornado that formed just east of Higbee. The damage was extensive, but considering the dilapidated nature of the building and the unidirectional nature of the damage, strong thunderstorm winds of around 70 to 80 mph were deemed to be the cause of the damage.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindHigbee$10,000Thunderstorm winds tore shingles off houses in Higbee.
April 2010Thunderstorm WindHigbee$4,000Power poles were reported down. Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated to 70 mph.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindHigbee$400A powerpole was reported down. Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 60 mph.
February 2011Thunderstorm WindHigbee$300Thunderstorm winds estimated up to 60 mph, blew a windmill lawn ornament through a residence window.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindHigbee-Downed tree and wires near Railroad Street in Higbee.
May 2024Tornado (EF0)Higbee-An EF0 tornado developed just southwest of Higbee, damaging a large section of the southern part of town. Most of the damage was to trees, with the most significant damage occurring near the railroad tracks and along Highway A to the south of the tracks. An automobile was displaced a couple feet in a parking lot, and a trailer was blown into a business property. The property also featured significant roof damage. Multiple large trees were blown down, and smaller trees were uprooted. Some of these trees fell onto property, damaging a couple of vehicles and several residences. Several large trees were downed along Monroe Street as well. As the tornado moved northeast, it weakened, damaging mainly smaller trees and limbs before lifting near County Road 2560 northeast of town.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindHigbee-Estimated wind gusts up to 70 mph in Higbee.
May 2019HailHigbee-There were piles of smaller hail with a few reaching three inches.
May 2019HailHigbee-Golf ball sized hail did some damage to vehicles. The extent of the damage is unknown.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindHigbee-Emergency management reported that there was roof damage to a few homes and outbuildings after strong winds moved through Higbee. There were also several trees of unknown size or condition blown down onto houses and powerlines, as well as blocking some area roads. The main swath of these winds were along a line from the south side of Moberly into Higbee.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindHigbee-Trees were down across roads.
April 2014HailHigbee-no account filed
May 2011HailHigbee-no account filed
May 2005HailHigbee-no account filed
April 2001HailHigbee-no account filed
June 1999HailHigbee-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Randolph 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
Harkes3.5 miles17
Ryder4.0 miles17
Yates4.6 miles15
Renick5.9 miles17
Urbandale7.2 miles18
Mount Airy8.2 miles15
Moberly8.8 miles18
Kimberly8.8 miles18

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 HigbeeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q963873The 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 719507. 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.