Meta, Missouri
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Jackson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65058. The Survey maps it on the Meta quadrangle. 180 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 646 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresMeta fell from 229 to 180 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 | 229 | |
| 2020 | 180 | -49 (-21%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 17 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.
- 1888 USGS Tuscumbia quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Tuscumbia quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1947 USGS Jefferson City quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Meta quadrangle1:62500
- 1950 USGS Meta quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS Jefferson City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Jefferson City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Jefferson City quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Jefferson City quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Lake Of The Ozarks quadrangle1:100000
- 1987 USGS Meta quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
15 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Meta between 1992 and 2019, burning about 35 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 | 7 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 June 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 9 June 1992 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 3 April 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 6 March 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Missouri State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 24 March 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Missouri Department of Conservation | 177916-07614-03242018-1313 |
| 22 March 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 1 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | not named |
| 27 February 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.9 acres | Missouri Department of Conservation | 178256-07614-02272019-0449 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Meta: 9 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Sulfur-Pyrite. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Mine | Sulfur-Pyrite | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Clay | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Pb | Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Borymeier Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Emloe Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Fe | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - Fe. | Iron | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - S&G | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown - S&G | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
17 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Meta in 17 storm reports between 1998 and 2020: 7 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2020 | Flash Flood | Meta | - | Betwen 2 and 4 inches of rain, with isolated amounts up to 6 inches, fell in a short amount of time causing flash flooding across Osage County. Numerous roads were flooded including Highways E, W, and 133. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meta | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down at least 8 large trees across the county as well as numerous large tree limbs,in several towns including Loose Creek and Rich Fountain. |
| April 2017 | Flash Flood | Meta | - | Between 4 and 6 inches of rain caused flash flooding. Numerous roads were flooded including Route RA southeast of Linn. |
| December 2015 | Flood | Meta | - | Between 6 and 8 inches of rain fell across Osage County during a 2 day period. All of this rain caused the creeks and rivers to rise. The Osage, Gasconade and Missouri Rivers went into major flood. About 20 structures were either damaged or destroyed from the river flooding. |
| July 2015 | Flash Flood | Meta | - | Up to three inches of rain fell onto already saturated soils causing flash flooding. Numerous roads were flooded including Route T north of Argyle and Route P west of Freeburg. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meta | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several power lines in Meta. |
| April 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meta | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several 18 to 20 inch diameter trees in Meta. |
| September 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meta | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down a large tree blocking County Road 542 just southeast of Meta. |
| May 2005 | Hail | Meta | - | Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail in Meta. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Meta | - | Local law enforcement reported golfball size hail north of Meta. |
| June 2003 | Hail | Meta | - | Storm spotters reported silver dollar size hail. |
| June 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meta | - | The County Sheriff reported large tree limbs down from thunderstorm winds. |
| October 2001 | Hail | Meta | - | Storm spotters reported 1 1/2 inch hail in Meta. |
| March 2012 | Hail | Meta | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Meta | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Meta | - | no account filed |
| April 1998 | Hail | Meta | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babbtown | 2.3 miles | 17 | |
| Koeltztown | 6.6 miles | 17 | |
| Argyle | 7.6 miles | 17 | |
| Folk | 8.3 miles | 17 | |
| Castle Rock (historical) | 10.9 miles | 17 | |
| Westphalia | 12.6 miles | 17 | |
| Freeburg | 12.9 miles | 17 | |
| Lisletown (historical) | 15.1 miles | 17 |
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 Meta | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q966170 | 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 722248. 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.










