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Pilot Knob, Missouri

25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1937 and the latest in 2000. It stands in Arcadia Township. It lies in ZIP code area 63663. It stands on East Branch Knob Creek. The Survey maps it on the Ironton quadrangle. 671 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 961 feet above sea level.

Pilot Knob within Iron County

On record in Pilot Knob

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Pilot Knob fell from 746 to 671 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
2010746
2020671-75 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

17 surveys from 25 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

27 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 27 fires within 5 miles of Pilot Knob between 1992 and 2018, burning about 364 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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 burning14
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Smoking1

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
3 September 1996Recreation and ceremony10 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
2 September 1995Debris and open burning2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
12 May 1997Smoking223 acresMark Twain National ForestLAKE KILLARNEY
9 April 1994Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
7 April 2013Debris and open burning8.3 acresMark Twain National Forest334
4 April 1992Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
14 April 1995Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
3 March 1992Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Iron County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 33 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 33 workings within 5 miles of Pilot Knob: 28 past producers, 2 prospects, 2 producers, 1 occurrence. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Granite, Limestone, Dimension, 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
Sheahan Granite QuarryTin, Stone, DimensionPast Producer1888
Shepherd MountainIron, Sulfur, Phosphorus-PhosphatesPast Producer1815
Unknown - Lead - IronIron, LeadPast Producer
Unknown - Lead ProspectLeadProspect
Jones QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LsStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LsStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Hastings QuarryLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Russell QuarryLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Unknown - Ls DimensionLimestone, DimensionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Iron County

Storms near this place

11 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pilot Knob in 11 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 6 hail, 2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 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
May 2025Thunderstorm WindPilot Knob-Thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees across Ironton and Pilot Knob.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindPilot Knob-Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees and powerlines in Pilot Knob.
February 2008Flash FloodPilot Knob-Two to three inches of rain fell over portions of Iron county during the evening hours of February 5th. Water 6 to 12 inches deep was reported on Highway 221 in Pilot Knob at an underpass. Also, several low water crossings were flooded for a time in the area.
September 2006Tornado (F1)Pilot Knob-As the tornado moved into Iron County from Reynolds County, it tracked northeast paralleling Route N for a mile, resulting in a long swath of continuous damage which spanned both sides of the road. Numerous trees were either uprooted or snapped, 5 homes sustained roof and exterior damage, and a mobile home was flipped on its side. The damage path was around a third of a mile wide and was rated high end F1. The tornado then narrowed and moved across the southeast portion of Snow Hollow Lake where trees were snapped and uprooted. Two homes sustained moderate damage due to the tornado and fallen trees. The damage path was about 75 yards wide and was rated F1 in intensity. The tornado continued northeast crossing Highway 21 around a mile north of Pilot Knob. Several homes on each side of the highway and a day care center on the west side received minor roof damage. Trees were also snapped and uprooted. The tornado then crossed Middlebrook Road where one home lost a portion of its roof, a mobile home sustained moderate damage and a machine shed was destroyed. This damage was rated F1 in intensity and was about 100 yards wide. The tornado then moved up the ridge line further east snapping a number of trees half way up. The tornado then crossed Route V around half a mile south of the Iron/St. Francois County line, snapping and topping trees on both sides of the road. The damage path was about 40 yards wide and was rated F1. It appears the tornado lifted just south of the Iron/St. Francois County line around a mile northeast of Route V. No injuries or deaths were reported.
September 2006Tornado (F2)Pilot Knob-The tornado touched down 6 miles west of Pilot Knob on Route N where it destroyed a mobile home and blew down several trees and numerous tree limbs. The damage path was about 40 yards wide and was rated F1 in intensity. The tornado then traveled east towards Snow Hollow Lake. A ranch home was severely damaged along the north side of the lake. The tornado then hit several large trees along the east side of the lake. The damage path was 100 yards wide in this location with F2 intensity. The tornado continued moving to the east for another mile before lifting and dissipating. No injuries or deaths were reported.
March 2020HailPilot Knob-no account filed
March 2012HailPilot Knob-no account filed
April 2006HailPilot Knob-no account filed
September 2006HailPilot Knob-no account filed
May 2003HailPilot Knob-no account filed
May 2003HailPilot Knob-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Iron 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
English Town0.1 miles25
Wilsonville1.7 miles25
Ironton1.8 miles25
Russellville2.3 miles25
Arcadia2.4 miles25
Snow Hollow Lake2.4 miles24
Ghermanville2.5 miles24
Middlebrook2.9 miles24

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 Pilot KnobAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q953926The 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 751590. 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.