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Rensselaer, Missouri

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Clay Township. It lies in ZIP code area 63401. The Survey maps it on the Rensselaer quadrangle. 253 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 699 feet above sea level.

Rensselaer within Ralls County

On record in Rensselaer

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Rensselaer grew from 228 to 253 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
2010228
2020253+25 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 11 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

17 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Rensselaer between 1992 and 2020, burning about 95 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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
Debris and open burning9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Arson/incendiarism1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
24 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.1 acresMissouri Department of Conservation177480-06438-04242018-1353
20 April 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMissouri Department of Conservation177319-06417-04202018-1619
8 March 1997Debris and open burning5.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
27 March 1997Debris and open burning3.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
23 March 1994Debris and open burning5.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
15 March 1994Debris and open burning4.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
7 February 1992Debris and open burning5.0 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named
7 February 1992Debris and open burning20 acresMissouri Department of Conservationnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Ralls County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Rensselaer: 5 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Salt. 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
Freemores LickSaltPast Producer
UnknownSaltPast Producer
Central Stone #1 Huntington QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Central Stone Plant #1Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Fessenden Lime QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Marblehead Lime QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Ralls County

Storms near this place

8 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rensselaer in 8 storm reports between 1996 and 2021: 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado, 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
July 2021Thunderstorm WindRensselaer$1,300,000An NWS storm survey discovered a macroburst that first initiated to the north of Rensselaer, MO. This macroburst caused extensive tree damage in town, especially on the western side of Rensselaer where several large branches and trees were snapped or uprooted and a few roofs sustained damage. Winds in this area were determined to be around 80 mph. The large swath of damaging winds then pushed south towards Mark Twain State Park. Extensive tree damage was noted in the state park. In addition, the Blackjack Marina sustained quite a bit damage from straight line winds around 80 mph. These winds were strong enough to cause damage to several boats, damage to the metal roofing of the marina, and the winds were even able to pull part of the marina off its mooring. The dollar amount damage to the marina is estimated to be around a million dollars. The worst of the damage occurred to the south of the marina in the town of Perry, MO. Extensive tree damage was noted in this area along with some damage to roofs and siding to a number of residences. The degree of tree and structural damage was consistent with fairly widespread 80 mph winds across town, with localized areas of 90 mph present in some of the observed damage. Straight line wind damage continued to the south of Perry, but it became less intense and more scattered in nature south of town. No deaths or injuries were reported.
June 2000Tornado (F0)Rensselaer$10,000The County Sheriff reported a brief tornado west of Rensselaer. Trees were uprooted and a barn heavily damaged.
April 2013Thunderstorm WindRensselaer-Thunderstorm winds blew a wooden swing set approximately 100 yards.
August 2009Flash FloodRensselaer-Between 2 and 4 inches of rain fell in a short amount of time causing flash flooding. Highway H had six inches of water over it in spots between U.S. Highway 36 and the south side of Rensselaer.
September 2003Thunderstorm WindRensselaer-A local golf course reported trees down.
May 2019HailRensselaer-no account filed
April 2006HailRensselaer-no account filed
June 1996Thunderstorm WindRensselaer-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ralls 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
Huntington2.9 miles11
Spalding3.7 miles12
Sheil3.8 miles11
Hydesburg (historical)4.1 miles17
Hassard6.2 miles11
Hatch6.8 miles12
Ralls7.6 miles17
Cincinnati7.9 miles12

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 RensselaerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2792987The 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 725223. 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.