Columbia, South Dakota
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Columbia Township. It lies in ZIP code area 57433. It stands on Elm River. The Survey maps it on the Columbia quadrangle. 160 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,302 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresColumbia grew from 136 to 160 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 | 136 | |
| 2020 | 160 | +24 (+18%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 10 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.
- 1894 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:62500
- 1896 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1952 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Aberdeen quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Aberdeen quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Elm River quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
7 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Columbia between 2000 and 2014, burning about 259 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/undetermined | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | I90 |
| 27 July 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | 248TH |
| 7 May 2014 | Debris and open burning | 5.1 acres | Sand Lake Wetland Management District | CORN STALK |
| 4 May 2000 | Debris and open burning | 120 acres | Columbia Volunteer Fire Department | BUNTROCK |
| 15 April 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Columbia Volunteer Fire Department | B. ZASTROW |
| 29 March 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 108 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | WON'T START |
| 31 October 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | ADERHOLD |
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 Columbia: 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schlosser Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
37 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Columbia in 37 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 19 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 6 flood, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2009 | Flood | Columbia | $75,000 | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Tornado (EF0) | Columbia | - | A weak tornado demolished a shed, but no other damage was noted to the surrounding buildings. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Large trees were downed and major crop damage occurred from estimated 75 mph winds. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Branches of 6 to 7 inches in diameter were downed by estimated 75 mph winds. |
| August 2015 | Flash Flood | Columbia | - | Heavy rains from 4 to over 6 inches brought flash flooding in and north of Columbia. Roads and streets were flooded along with the ditches being completely filled up. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Sixty mph winds broke off most of the top of a tree in Columbia. |
| June 2012 | Tornado (EF0) | Columbia | - | A tornado touched down briefly north of Columbia with no damage reported. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | The old school gymnasium was destroyed in Columbia along with many trees downed. One fallen tree put a large hole in a home in Columbia. Also, several grain bins were destroyed near Columbia. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | High winds downed several large branches in Columbia. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | Winds gusting to 60 mph brought some trees and tree branches down in Columbia. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| August 2021 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 2017 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| August 2015 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| August 2015 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| March 2009 | Flood | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Flood | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Flood | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Flood | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Flood | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | no account filed |
| June 1996 | Hail | Columbia | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordway | 5.8 miles | 10 | |
| Tacoma Park | 5.9 miles | 9 | |
| Plana | 6.5 miles | 10 | |
| Putney | 8.1 miles | 9 | |
| Prairiewood Village | 9.1 miles | 10 | |
| Prairie Wood Village Addition | 9.3 miles | 10 | |
| Bath | 10.0 miles | 11 | |
| Westport | 10.1 miles | 11 |
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 Columbia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q736721 | 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 1265162. 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.





