Florence, South Dakota
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Florence town. It lies in ZIP code area 57235. The Survey maps it on the Florence quadrangle. 337 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,768 feet above sea level.
On record in Florence
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
Goodhue Lutheran Churchlisted 1996- Barr Farmsteadlisted 2005
- Florence Methodist Churchlisted 1991
- Reeve's Resortlisted 1989
Population over time
2 figuresFlorence fell from 374 to 337 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 | 374 | |
| 2020 | 337 | -37 (-10%) |
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 Milbank quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Milbank quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Florence quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Webster quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
13 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Florence between 2002 and 2020, burning about 68 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | UNKNOWN |
| 30 July 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Waubay National Wildlife Refuge | BRIGGS WPA WILDFIRE |
| 28 June 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | CO RD 19 |
| 4 May 2015 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | KORNMANN |
| 4 May 2008 | Debris and open burning | 31 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 4 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | HOFFMAN |
| 30 April 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Codington County | ORTHAUS |
| 29 April 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.8 acres | Waubay Wetland Management District | HUPPLER WF |
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Florence: 3 past producers. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
36 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Florence in 36 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 14 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 8 flood, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | Flood | Florence | - | The Big Sioux River near Watertown would go into flood around mid-day on August 6th, reaching 10.65 feet, or 0.65 feet above flood stage on the evening of the 6th. This portion of the river would remain in flood through the morning of the 7th. Flooding would mainly impact agricultural lands. |
| August 2024 | Hail | Florence | - | A trained spotter reported a 3/4 mile swath of crop damage from estimated quarter to golfball sized hail. |
| April 2023 | Flood | Florence | - | The Big Sioux river near Watertown peaked at 11.81 feet in moderate flood stage on the morning of April 13th, however only agricultural lands are impacted at this level. |
| June 2022 | Flood | Florence | - | The Big Sioux River at Broadway Avenue in Watertown was in minor flood stage from the end of May through the morning of June 1st. It crested at 10.62 feet at midnight on June 1st. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | The broadcast media reported an estimated wind gust of 60 mph. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | Estimated eighty mph winds caused an outbuilding to collapse. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | Several trees were downed by estimated seventy-five mph winds. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | Sixty mph winds were estimated. |
| April 2011 | Flood | Florence | - | The Big Sioux River flooding from March continued through much of April as more snowmelt runoff occurred early in the month. The Big Sioux at and below Watertown went below flood stage in the third week of April while the Big Sioux above Watertown continued to flood into May. Crop and pastureland were flooded along with a few roads. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | Sixty mph winds were estimated by the public. |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | Winds downed several trees and damaged a few buildings in Florence. Outside of Florence, a cow barn, a garage and many calf shelters were severely damaged. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | Near Florence, winds to 80 mph tipped over and damaged a small shed, destroyed another storage shed, and also completely demolished a three stall garage. Also near Florence, a large barn was blown down. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| March 2019 | Flood | Florence | - | no account filed |
| April 2018 | Flood | Florence | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Flood | Florence | - | no account filed |
| June 2017 | Funnel Cloud | Florence | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| August 2012 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| March 2010 | Flood | Florence | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Tornado (F0) | Florence | - | no account filed |
| October 1996 | Hail | Florence | - | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Florence | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallace | 8.0 miles | 7 | |
| North Shore | 9.8 miles | 8 | |
| Green Trees Subdivision | 11.8 miles | 8 | |
| Kampeska | 12.5 miles | 8 | |
| Rauville | 12.9 miles | 8 | |
| Henry | 14.2 miles | 8 | |
| Watertown | 15.6 miles | 8 | |
| Grover | 16.9 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 Florence | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2674193 | 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 1255090. 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.



