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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.

Florence within Codington County

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

Population over time

2 figures

Florence 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.

YearPeople Change
2010374
2020337-37 (-10%)

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

13 since 2002

Regional 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 burning5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Equipment and vehicle use1
Recreation and ceremony1
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
28 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionUNKNOWN
30 July 2005Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresWaubay National Wildlife RefugeBRIGGS WPA WILDFIRE
28 June 2020Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionCO RD 19
4 May 2015Debris and open burning5.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionKORNMANN
4 May 2008Debris and open burning31 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
4 April 2015Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionHOFFMAN
30 April 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresCodington CountyORTHAUS
29 April 2015Recreation and ceremony1.8 acresWaubay Wetland Management DistrictHUPPLER WF

Every fire recorded in Codington County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Codington County

Storms near this place

36 since 1995

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2025FloodFlorence-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 2024HailFlorence-A trained spotter reported a 3/4 mile swath of crop damage from estimated quarter to golfball sized hail.
April 2023FloodFlorence-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 2022FloodFlorence-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 2022Thunderstorm WindFlorence-The broadcast media reported an estimated wind gust of 60 mph.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindFlorence-Estimated eighty mph winds caused an outbuilding to collapse.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindFlorence-Several trees were downed by estimated seventy-five mph winds.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindFlorence-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
April 2011FloodFlorence-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 2009Thunderstorm WindFlorence-Sixty mph winds were estimated by the public.
May 2005Thunderstorm WindFlorence-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 1999Thunderstorm WindFlorence-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 2023HailFlorence-no account filed
July 2021HailFlorence-no account filed
July 2021HailFlorence-no account filed
March 2019FloodFlorence-no account filed
April 2018FloodFlorence-no account filed
May 2018FloodFlorence-no account filed
June 2017Funnel CloudFlorence-no account filed
May 2012HailFlorence-no account filed
August 2012HailFlorence-no account filed
July 2010HailFlorence-no account filed
March 2010FloodFlorence-no account filed
June 2009HailFlorence-no account filed
June 2009HailFlorence-no account filed
July 2008HailFlorence-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindFlorence-no account filed
June 2004HailFlorence-no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindFlorence-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindFlorence-no account filed
July 2001HailFlorence-no account filed
July 1997Thunderstorm WindFlorence-no account filed
July 1997HailFlorence-no account filed
May 1996Tornado (F0)Florence-no account filed
October 1996HailFlorence-no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindFlorence-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Codington 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
Wallace8.0 miles7
North Shore9.8 miles8
Green Trees Subdivision11.8 miles8
Kampeska12.5 miles8
Rauville12.9 miles8
Henry14.2 miles8
Watertown15.6 miles8
Grover16.9 miles8

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 FlorenceAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2674193The 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.