Fairburn, South Dakota
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1977. It stands in the East Custer unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 57738. The Survey maps it on the Fairburn quadrangle. 60 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,301 feet above sea level.
On record in Fairburn
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 1 record
- Fairburn Historic Commercial Districtlisted 2018
Population over time
2 figuresFairburn fell from 85 to 60 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 | 85 | |
| 2020 | 60 | -25 (-29%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 16 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 Hermosa quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1901 USGS Hermosa quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Hot Springs quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1957 USGS Fairburn quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1977 USGS Mount Rushmore quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
26 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Fairburn between 2000 and 2020, burning about 1,138 acres in total. 8 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 8 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 7 August 2005 | Natural | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 4 August 2012 | Natural | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | SAGE |
| 30 August 2005 | Natural | 1.3 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 30 August 2005 | Natural | 1.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 3 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | 55 |
| 29 August 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | HERMOSA FIRE |
| 18 August 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | DOWNEN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 149 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fairburn in 149 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 96 hail, 51 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | $50,000 | A vacant mobile home was destroyed, a roof was torn off a shed and two twelve inch diameter trees were blown down. |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Fairburn | $25,000 | Softball size hail damaged property. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Fairburn | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Fairburn | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | $5,000 | The combination of hail and wind caused minor damage. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | $5,000 | The combination of hail and wind caused minor damage. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | $5,000 | The combination of hail and wind broke windows on the west side of a house. A roof was blown off a shed. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Fairburn | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Fairburn | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Fairburn | $3,000 | no account filed |
| August 2012 | Hail | Fairburn | $2,000 | Hail driven by 52 mph wind gusts broke windows. |
| May 1993 | Tornado (F0) | Fairburn | $500 | A tractor-trailer was blown over near the junction of Highway 79 and Fairburn Road. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Trained spotter reported hail size, estimated. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Trained spotter reported quarter size hail. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Public submitted report. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Hail covered the ground. The largest hail was ping pong ball size, with lots of penny to nickel sized hail. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Hail damage to home. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Hail up to quarter size fell for most of 40 minutes. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts to 60 mph accompanied the storm. |
| June 2019 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Hail to ping-pong ball size fell for about 30 minutes. |
| June 2019 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Golf ball sized hail fell for a half an hour at the Custer State Park east entrance and airport. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Small outbuildings were blown down by the wind. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 70 mph. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | A camper was blown over on its side. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| August 2017 | Hail | Fairburn | - | The spotter also estimated 40-50 mph wind gusts. |
| August 2017 | Hail | Fairburn | - | A second wave of hail fell for ten minutes. |
| July 2015 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Quarter sized hail was reported at the Custer State Park Game Lodge. |
| July 2015 | Hail | Fairburn | - | The ground was covered with two inches of hail and a wind gust of 57 mph was recorded. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Two inch diameter hail covered the ground. |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts estimated near 70 mph bent small trees. |
| July 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Reported at the Custer State Park Wildlife Visitors Center. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts reached 60 mph at the Wildlife Visitors Center in Custer State Park. |
| October 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Fairburn | - | Strong wind gusts were also reported. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts estimated around 60 mph. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts bent small trees and blew over a large picnic table. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | Wind gusts were estimated around 60 mph. |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | A large tree limb was downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| June 1999 | Flash Flood | Fairburn | - | Water along French and Grace Coolidge Creeks rose rapidly after 3 to 4 inches of rain in less then an hour. Some vehicles in the Hermosa area had water up to the doors because local drainage systems could not keep up with the water. |
| August 2024 | Hail | Fairburn | - | no account filed |
| August 2024 | Hail | Fairburn | - | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Hail | Fairburn | - | no account filed |
| September 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fairburn | - | no account filed |
| August 2024 | Hail | Fairburn | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hermosa | 10.7 miles | 16 | |
| State Game Lodge | 10.8 miles | 22 | |
| Spokane | 13.9 miles | 22 | |
| Buffalo Gap | 14.5 miles | 16 | |
| Blue Bell | 14.5 miles | 18 | |
| Cold Spring II (historical) | 16.2 miles | 18 | |
| Nihart | 20.2 miles | 16 | |
| Folsom | 20.5 miles | 8 |
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 Fairburn | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2734124 | 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 1261656. 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.




