Allen, South Dakota
5 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the West Bennett unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 57714. The Survey maps it on the Allen quadrangle. 460 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,307 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAllen grew from 420 to 460 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 | 420 | |
| 2020 | 460 | +40 (+10%) |
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.
- 1955 USGS Martin quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Martin quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Allen quadrangle1:25000
- 1983 USGS Martin quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
91 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 91 fires within 5 miles of Allen between 1994 and 2020, burning about 6,338 acres in total. 14 started naturally. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17 |
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 14 |
| Natural | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 9 |
| Fireworks | 8 |
| Other causes | 6 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2001 | Natural | 8.0 acres | Pine Ridge Agency | WHICH WAY |
| 4 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Martin Volunteer Fire Department | ALLEN HOUSING |
| 3 September 2012 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Pine Ridge Agency | ALLEN |
| 27 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Pine Ridge Agency | KEYS-N-CASH |
| 27 September 2012 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Pine Ridge Agency | AMERICAN HORSE II |
| 26 September 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 675 acres | Pine Ridge Agency | ALLEN |
| 22 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Pine Ridge Agency | BUFFALO PASTURE |
| 21 September 2013 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 5.0 acres | Pine Ridge Agency | ALLEN HOUSING 4 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
50 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Allen in 50 storm reports between 1999 and 2024: 22 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 8 tornado, 3 flood. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2013 | Tornado (EF1) | Allen | 1 hurt, $100,000 | A tornado touched down on the west side of Allen Road south of Allen and rolled a mobile home down a hill. It tore off the roof and collapsed several walls of a small stick built house on the east side of the road before dissipating. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | 1 hurt, $25,000 | Straight-line wind damage was observed along BIA Road 22 southeast of Allen. The winds tore part of the roof off a small building and ripped shingles and metal roofing off two houses. A mobile home was rolled and completely smashed. A large cottonwood tree was snapped. |
| May 2019 | Flood | Allen | $750,000 | Three roads were completely washed out and several other roads throughout the county were damaged. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Allen | $200,000 | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Flood | Allen | $80,000 | Runoff from heavy rain caused flooding on the Little White River three miles south-southeast of Swett. Water inundated 296th Street and washed out a culvert, causing the road to collapse. |
| June 2014 | Hail | Allen | $20,000 | Baseball size hail broke windows and skylights, damaged vehicles, and killed lambs. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | $5,000 | Combination of hail and wind broke windows on mobile home. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | $5,000 | A mobile home was blown over and damaged. No estimate of wind speed given. |
| June 2019 | Tornado (EF1) | Allen | - | A tornado formed in a field southwest of Allen and spun in a two-mile area, first moving west, then south, and finally north. It damaged a house and barn, blew over a couple of grain bins, snapped large trees and two power poles. It also ripped corn from the fields, killed several deer, and picked up some grain bags and carried them along its track before dropping them as it dissipated. |
| August 2019 | Flash Flood | Allen | - | Flash flooding occurred in Yellow Bear Canyon. Water inundated BIA 4 for a couple of hours. |
| July 2019 | Tornado (EF0) | Allen | - | A brief tornado was reported by the emergency manager. It was over pasture land and caused no damage. |
| July 2019 | Tornado (EF0) | Allen | - | A brief tornado was reported by the emergency manager. It was over pasture land and caused no damage. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | Strong wind gusts blew a single wide mobile home off its foundation. |
| June 2017 | Tornado (EF0) | Allen | - | A spotter watched a small tornado in a field for about five minutes before it became obscured by rain. |
| September 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | Small hail also fell with the storm. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 70 mph. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | A spotter reported 60 mph wind gusts. |
| April 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | Estimated 60 mph wind gusts. |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | Wind gusts were estimated around 60 mph. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | Branches up eight inches in diameter were broken off trees. |
| June 2008 | Flood | Allen | - | Minor flooding occurred along small streams in northern Bennett County. |
| June 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Allen | - | The tornado that formed south of Kyle in Shannon County briefly crossed into Bennett County, dissipating before reaching BIA Highway 4 (Allen Road). Location and time were based on Doppler radar and spotter reports. |
| August 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Allen | - | Brief tornado touchdown. |
| June 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Allen | - | Width and path length reported by a local resident. |
| July 1999 | Funnel Cloud | Allen | - | Public report of a short lived funnel cloud. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| July 2015 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| August 2009 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Allen | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Allen | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plenty Bears | 4.4 miles | 5 | |
| Swett | 7.7 miles | 5 | |
| Bad Wound | 8.8 miles | 5 | |
| Black Eyes | 12.1 miles | 5 | |
| Martin | 12.6 miles | 5 | |
| LaCreek (historical) | 19.7 miles | 5 | |
| Patricia | 21.9 miles | 5 | |
| Tuthill | 24.4 miles | 6 |
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 Allen | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2524515 | 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 1261089. 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.



