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Britton, South Dakota

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1979. It stands in Britton City. It lies in ZIP code area 57430. The Survey maps it on the Britton West quadrangle. 1,215 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,358 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Britton within Marshall County

On record in Britton

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 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Britton fell from 1,241 to 1,215 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
20101,241
20201,215-26 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 7 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

36 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 36 fires within 5 miles of Britton between 2011 and 2020, burning about 643 acres in total. None 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/undetermined30
Debris and open burning3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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 September 2013Debris and open burning50 acresMarshall# 34 BURN
28 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionZASTROW FIRE
25 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionBREMMON GRASS
14 September 2013Debris and open burning150 acresMarshallART BOTTOM
9 August 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression& SLOUGH BURN
31 August 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionALDENTALER FIRE
25 August 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined25 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionBUHL/GROOM FIRE
23 August 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionDIDRECKSON

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Marshall County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Britton: 1 producer. All of them still produce. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Benke PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Marshall County

Storms near this place

60 of 62 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Britton in 62 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 30 hail, 25 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 2 tornado. 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
August 2025Flash FloodBritton-Total rainfall in Britton over a 48-hour period exceeded 4.5 inches, overwhelming city drainage systems. This caused flooding in town, with up to six inches of water moving over roads and into some buildings and basements.
August 2025HailBritton-Hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter was reported.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindBritton-Emergency management reported that a tower had collapsed at the ballpark.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindBritton-Estimated 65 mph winds toppled a tree over.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBritton-Seventy mph winds downed several trees in Britton. The grain elevator was also damaged in Britton.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBritton-Seventy mph winds downed several trees in Britton.
June 2005Flash FloodBritton-Flash flooding from heavy rains northwest of Britton swept a car off the road. The car flipped over and the occupant escaped without injury.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindBritton-The top of a large silo was blown off and a garage was also blown down by the high winds.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindBritton-Seventy mph winds downed several trees and many branches southeast of Britton.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindBritton-High winds blew a trailer with a pontoon boat on it off the road.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindBritton-Strong winds downed many large tree branches.
July 2004LightningBritton-Lightning struck a home in Britton starting a fire in the attic causing significant damage to the home.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBritton-High winds of 80 mph or higher knocked the blades off of a windmill, downed several large trees along with downing many power lines.
July 2003Tornado (F0)Britton-A tornado touched down briefly south of Britton.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindBritton-A large tree was downed in Britton along with several large tree branches.
July 1999LightningBritton-Lightning struck the Britton Country Club damaging the course sprinkler system and destroying the clubhouse television, cable box, portable phone, PA system, and lottery machines.
July 1999LightningBritton-Lightning struck the two-way antenna at a home south of Britton. The house became filled with smoke setting off the smoke alarms. The lightning destroyed the surge protector, the antenna, the transmitter, three televisions, the computer, and the garage door opener.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBritton-Winds to 70 mph downed many large trees and tree branches from Britton and north. Also, many power lines were brought down.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindBritton-Winds gusting to 65 mph destroyed a hangar at the Britton Airport and also many tree limbs were downed in Britton.
July 2025HailBritton-no account filed
August 2025HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
July 2015HailBritton-no account filed
June 2012HailBritton-no account filed
May 2008HailBritton-no account filed
April 2008HailBritton-no account filed
August 2006HailBritton-no account filed
August 2006HailBritton-no account filed
June 2005HailBritton-no account filed
September 2005HailBritton-no account filed
July 2003HailBritton-no account filed
July 2003HailBritton-no account filed
July 2003HailBritton-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
June 2003HailBritton-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
June 2002HailBritton-no account filed
June 2002HailBritton-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBritton-no account filed
August 1997HailBritton-no account filed
May 1997HailBritton-no account filed
May 1997HailBritton-no account filed
May 1996HailBritton-no account filed
May 1996Tornado (F0)Britton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Marshall 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
West Britton4.6 miles7
Spain6.4 miles6
Kidder6.6 miles7
Westwood Colony6.8 miles7
Newark9.7 miles7
Amherst9.8 miles6
Newport Colony12.4 miles6
Langford13.7 miles7

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 BrittonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2151512The 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 1254066. 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.