Rolla, North Dakota
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the East Rolette unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 58367. The Survey maps it on the Rolla quadrangle. 1,223 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,814 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresRolla fell from 1,280 to 1,223 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 | 1,280 | |
| 2020 | 1,223 | -57 (-4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 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 Devils Lake quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Devils Lake quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Rolla quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Rock Lake quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
671 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 671 fires within 5 miles of Rolla between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,781 acres in total. None started naturally. 130 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 | 299 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 163 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 130 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 31 |
| Fireworks | 18 |
| Other causes | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 1997 | Debris and open burning | 3.4 acres | Turtle Mountain Agency | LILLIAN |
| 8 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | 112 acres | Turtle Mountain Agency | TRAIL |
| 8 September 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Turtle Mountain Agency | STINKY |
| 8 September 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 acres | Turtle Mountain Agency | SANFORD |
| 7 September 2011 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Turtle Mountain Agency | MATTRESS |
| 5 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Turtle Mountain Agency | COMBINE |
| 4 September 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Turtle Mountain Agency | REBURN |
| 4 September 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Turtle Mountain Agency | BUTCH |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Rolla: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rolette County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
16 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rolla in 16 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 2 tornado, 2 funnel cloud. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolla | $5,000 | Brief power outages occurred in Rolla due to the strong winds. |
| June 2023 | Funnel Cloud | Rolla | - | Multiple funnel clouds occurred over the Rolla area. At one point, three funnel clouds were noted occurring simultaneously. |
| June 2018 | Tornado (EF0) | Rolla | - | The tornado remained over rural areas and caused no damage. Therefore, the tornado was rated EF0. |
| June 2006 | Tornado (F0) | Rolla | - | Tornado tracked by Rolette County Sheriff. No structures impacted and no damage. Tornado crossed from Rolette County (NWS Bismarck) into Towner County (NWS Grand Forks). See Tornado entry for Towner County 1305 to 1310 06/23/06 from National Weather Service Grand Forks, North Dakota. |
| August 2025 | Hail | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| June 2019 | Funnel Cloud | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Hail | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Hail | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Rolla | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rolla | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belcourt | 6.8 miles | 7 | |
| Saint John | 7.8 miles | 7 | |
| Shell Valley | 13.7 miles | 9 | |
| Mylo | 15.4 miles | 7 | |
| Agate | 17.5 miles | 7 | |
| Rolette | 18.0 miles | 7 | |
| Thorne | 18.5 miles | 7 | |
| East Dunseith | 21.1 miles | 9 |
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 Rolla | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q643726 | 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 1030958. 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.



