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Preston, Missouri

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1884 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Stark Township. It lies in ZIP code area 65732. The Survey maps it on the Preston quadrangle. 157 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,043 feet above sea level.

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Preston within Hickory County

Population over time

2 figures

Preston fell from 223 to 157 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
2010223
2020157-66 (-30%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 17 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

20 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 20 fires within 5 miles of Preston between 1992 and 2020, burning about 474 acres in total. 1 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
Arson/incendiarism3
Equipment and vehicle use1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
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
8 April 2001Debris and open burning4.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
5 April 1995Debris and open burning1.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
5 April 1992Debris and open burning23 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
23 April 1993Arson/incendiarism10 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
11 April 1992Debris and open burning2.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
23 March 1994Debris and open burning60 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
2 March 1992Debris and open burning50 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
19 March 1995Arson/incendiarism6.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hickory County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Preston: 8 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Lead, Zinc, Barium-Barite, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Lead, Barium-Barite. 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 - Lead BariteLead, Barium-BaritePast Producer
Hinkle-White No. 1Barium-BaritePast ProducerBarite
Hinkle-White No. 2Barium-BaritePast ProducerBarite
Unknown - LsStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unknown - LsStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Peterson MineLead, ZincPast Producer
Unknown - Lead BariteLead, ZincPast Producer
Unknown - Lead ZincLead, ZincPast Producer

Every working recorded in Hickory County

Storms near this place

51 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Preston in 51 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 15 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 11 flood, 9 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
July 2023HailPreston$750,000Hail up to 3 inches in size was reported. Significant damage to multiple vehicles and roofs occurred across the town of Preston. Hail damaged trees and other outbuildings.
February 2000Tornado (F1)Preston$500,000no account filed
June 2021Thunderstorm WindPreston$20,000Several power lines were reported down along Highway D.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindPreston$8,000Emergency management reported that a roof was blown off of a barn.
September 2020Thunderstorm WindPreston$8,000Several trees and large limbs were reported down and at least one power pole was snapped causing localized power outages.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindPreston$5,000Minor roof damage occurred to a barn.
April 2001HailPreston$2,000no account filed
September 2020Thunderstorm WindPreston$1,000Large tree branches were downed by high winds and sheet metal was removed from a deck. A personal weather station recorded a 49 mph wind gust.
July 2018HailPreston$1,000Golf ball sized hail was reported near the Preston Cafe. Some superficial damage to windows and window screens occurred. This was a delayed report with the time estimated by radar.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindPreston$1,000A tree was blown on to an outbuilding.
May 1996Thunderstorm WindPreston$1,000no account filed
June 2024HailPreston-Quarter to half dollar size hail fell in Hickory County on Highway D.
May 2024HailPreston-Report of half dollar size hail.
May 2024HailPreston-Report of ping pong ball size hail.
June 2024Flash FloodPreston-State Highway D is closed due to flooding south of Preston.
March 2023Flash FloodPreston-Heavy rainfall caused a low water crossing on Highway D to flood.
July 2023HailPreston-Hail up to quarters in size was reported.
July 2023HailPreston-Hail up to two inches in size was reported in a mainly rural location.
January 2021Flash FloodPreston-Heavy rainfall caused State Route D to flood and become impassable.
July 2021FloodPreston-Route D was closed due to flooding.
March 2020FloodPreston-Route D was closed due to flooding at a low water area south of Preston.
February 2020FloodPreston-Highway D south of Preston was closed at the low water crossing due to flooding.
February 2020FloodPreston-Highway D south of Preston was closed due to flooding.
July 2020Flash FloodPreston-Route D northbound was closed due to high water.
June 2020FloodPreston-A section of Highway D was closed due to flooding from heavy rainfall.
July 2019Heavy RainPreston-A 24 hour rainfall of 3.00 inches was measured.
July 2019FloodPreston-Highway D was closed due to flooding.
May 2019Heavy RainPreston-A 24 hour rainfall accumulation of 2.80 inches was reported by the public 3 miles east of Hermitage.
August 2019FloodPreston-Route D was closed south of Preston for several hours due to flooding.
February 2018FloodPreston-Heavy rainfall caused flooding along a section of Highway D about one mile south of Preston.
August 2018Heavy RainPreston-The public reported that 1.50 inches of rain fell in approximately 45 minutes.
December 2018FloodPreston-Excessive rainfall caused a section of Highway D to flood and become impassable to motorists. This area is simply a head water depression and not a named creek.
May 2017Flash FloodPreston-State Highway D was closed due to flooding.
August 2017FloodPreston-MODOT reported Route D near Preston closed due to flooding.
May 2011FloodPreston-Route D south of Preston was closed due to flooding.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindPreston-Several power poles were snapped and knocked across a section of Highway BB approximately one mile south of its intersection with Highway 54.
October 2009Flash FloodPreston-The Missouri Department of Transportation reported flooding on State Highway D southwest of Preston and on State Highway O southwest of Wheatland.
May 2007Flash FloodPreston-Heavy rain caused flash flooding over a low water crossing along Highway D between Nemo and Preston.
August 1997Flash FloodPreston-Brief flooding occurred along Crane Creek.
October 2016HailPreston-no account filed
October 2016HailPreston-no account filed
January 2005Flash FloodPreston-no account filed
May 2004HailPreston-no account filed
May 2004HailPreston-no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindPreston-no account filed
June 2003HailPreston-no account filed
April 2000Thunderstorm WindPreston-no account filed
June 1998HailPreston-no account filed
April 1998HailPreston-no account filed
April 1997Thunderstorm WindPreston-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindPreston-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Hickory 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
Nemo5.3 miles20
Carsons Corner5.4 miles20
Hermitage5.8 miles20
Cross Timbers5.9 miles17
Almon6.1 miles17
Jordan6.6 miles17
Galmey8.8 miles20
Pittsburg8.9 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 PrestonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q962868The 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 729805. 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.