Richardton, North Dakota
5 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the East Stark unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 58652. The Survey maps it on the Richardton quadrangle. 692 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,464 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresRichardton grew from 529 to 692 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 | 529 | |
| 2020 | 692 | +163 (+31%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 5 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.
- 1953 USGS Dickinson quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Dickinson quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Richardton quadrangle1:24000
- 1981 USGS Dickinson quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
27 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 27 fires within 5 miles of Richardton between 1999 and 2020, burning about 55 acres in total. 1 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/undetermined | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Natural | 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 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | 40TH ST EAST DITCH FIRE |
| 7 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | 39TH STREET DITCH FIRE |
| 5 September 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | North Dakota Field Office | SCHNELL SITE 1 |
| 12 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | BLOWING HAY FIRE |
| 9 August 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | 85TH AVE TRACK FIRE |
| 3 August 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | ENDERLE DITCH FIRE |
| 27 August 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3.0 acres | North Dakota State Forest Service | SATTLER FIRE |
| 24 August 1999 | Natural | under an acre | North Dakota Field Office | SCHNELL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
43 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Richardton in 43 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 20 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 3 funnel cloud. The reports record 1 death. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2019 | Lightning | Richardton | 1 killed | A 32-year old male died when he was struck by lighting while working on a trail at the Schnell Recreation Area east of Richardton in Stark County. At the time of the strike the victim was loading mowing equipment into the back of a pickup truck. |
| August 2016 | Hail | Richardton | $100,000 | Extensive property and crop damage were reported north of Richardton. No exact details were provided. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | $40,000 | Fifteen power poles were broken, all pushed towards the east. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | $20,000 | A tree was down in town, along with a power line. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Richardton | $15,000 | Five windows were shattered by the hail. |
| June 2011 | Tornado (EF0) | Richardton | $10,000 | The National Weather Service spoke to an eye witness who described this tornado. This tornado touched down briefly on the north side of Interstate 94 southwest of Richardton, lifting immediately after tearing part of a roof off of an outbuilding on a farm. This was the only damage attributed to this tornado, with no injuries or fatalities. Based on the damage description, this tornado was indicative of a strong EF0 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with peak winds of 85 miles per hour. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | $7,000 | A two and a half foot diameter ash tree that was seventy feet tall fell over onto a house. |
| July 2009 | Lightning | Richardton | $3,500 | Two separate lightning strikes ignited hay bales near Richardton and Gladstone in Stark County. Eighty bales of hay were lost near Richardton, and one bale of hay was lost near Gladstone. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | $2,000 | Trees were damaged. |
| May 2018 | Tornado (EF0) | Richardton | - | The tornado occurred over rural locations south of Richardton. No damage occurred, therefore the tornado was rated EF0. |
| June 2011 | Funnel Cloud | Richardton | - | This report was relayed by the Stark County Emergency Manager from a public report of a brief appearance of a funnel cloud. |
| June 2011 | Funnel Cloud | Richardton | - | A funnel cloud briefly formed near Richardton. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Richardton | - | This report was from the Severe Hail Verification Experiment. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | Reported by a NWS cooperative observer. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | Dumpster tipped over by the strong winds. Dime size hail accompanied the storm. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | Reported by a NWS cooperative observer. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | Pea size hail and very heavy rain accompanied the storm. |
| May 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Richardton | - | Brief touch down. Location is also 10 northwest of Hebron. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | Extensive tree damage. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| September 2018 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| August 2016 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| August 2016 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Funnel Cloud | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Richardton | - | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Richardton | - | 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.
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 Richardton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2170329 | 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 1030900. 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.
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.



