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Hecla, South Dakota

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Hecla Township. It lies in ZIP code area 57446. The Survey maps it on the Hecla quadrangle. 193 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,302 feet above sea level.

Hecla within Brown County

On record in Hecla

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

Population over time

2 figures

Hecla fell from 227 to 193 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
2010227
2020193-34 (-15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 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

25 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Hecla between 2005 and 2020, burning about 2,913 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 burning9
Missing data/not specified/undetermined9
Equipment and vehicle use6
Smoking1

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
26 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined7.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionBUSHBY
25 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionLILLA FIRE
19 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionD. ELSEN
3 August 2015Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionD MITCHELL
8 June 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionSIEFKES FIRE
17 June 2005Debris and open burning20 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
5 May 2018Debris and open burning35 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionPULFREY
9 April 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.5 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Brown County

Storms near this place

60 of 93 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hecla in 93 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 57 flood, 15 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 4 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2025Thunderstorm WindHecla-A member of the public reported that their fertilizer bin had been tipped over by estimated 70 mph winds, with the combination of winds and small hail responsible for crop damage.
June 2023FloodHecla-The James River near Columbia, CMBS2, started the month in moderate flood stage at 17.31 feet, then steadily dropped through the month. It reached minor flood stage of <16 feet from June 20th through early on June 24th before rising back into moderate flood stage thereafter due to heavy rains, and remained in moderate flood stage through the rest of the month. Significant amounts of agricultural lands remained flooded through the month.
July 2023FloodHecla-The James River near Columbia, CMBS2, started the month in moderate flood stage at 16.3 feet, then saw a slight increase to 16.5 feet due to heavy rainfall in early July. The river dropped to minor flood stage of <16 feet early on July 15th, with a steady decline for the rest of the month. Significant amounts of agricultural land remained flooded throughout the month.
June 2022FloodHecla-The James River near Columbia began the month in Major flood stage, and was at its highest at midnight on June 1st at 18.41 feet. The gauge dropped below 18 feet into Moderate flood stage during the late morning on June 8th.
July 2022FloodHecla-The James River at Columbia reached the July peak early in the month, with a slow decrease for the rest of the month. The river fell below the moderate stage on the 30th.
September 2022FloodHecla-Flooding on the James River was recorded by the river gauge at Columbia, CMBS2.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindHecla-A large cottonwood tree limb was broken off by estimated winds near 60 mph.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindHecla-Estimated seventy mph winds moved a large water tank into an airplane breaking the wing.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindHecla-Estimated seventy mph winds brought large tree branches down.
May 2019FloodHecla-The James River at Columbia and Stratford reached their highest stages in late April close to 19 feet. Flood stage at Stratford is 14 feet and 13 feet at Columbia.
April 2019FloodHecla-The James River near Columbia rose above the flood stage of 13 feet on April 2nd to major stage of 19 feet by April 21st. The river gauge at Stratford rose above the flood stage of 14 feet on April 3rd to major stage of 18.7 feet by the 19th of April. The James River continued to flood into May. Several roads along with agricultural land were affected.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindHecla-Some trees were downed by seventy mph winds.
June 2014FloodHecla-Heavy rainfall resulted in the James River flooding at Columbia at the end of June continuing into July. Some agricultural land was flooded.
September 2013HailHecla-Large hail caused some minor crop damage.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindHecla-Sixty mph winds were estimated west of Hecla.
March 2011FloodHecla-The James River went above flood stage throughout Brown county from Columbia to Stratford on March 22nd continuing through the end of the month and into April. The river rose above the flood stage of 13 to 14 feet to 3 to 4 feet above flood stage by the end of the month. Agricultural and pastureland along with many roads were flooded. The river continued to rise into April to moderate to major stage.
April 2011FloodHecla-The James River continued to flood throughout Brown county from Columbia to Stratford through April. The James River at Columbia rose to 19.4 feet or 6.4 feet above the flood stage of 13 feet at the end of April. At Stratford, the river rose to 20.4 feet or 6.4 feet above the flood stage of 14 feet. Crop and pastureland along with several roads continued to be flooded.
May 2011FloodHecla-Above normal May rainfall kept the James River well above flood stage throughout Brown county from Columbia to Stratford through the month. Crop and pastureland along with several roads continued to be flooded.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindHecla-Seventy mph winds downed several trees in Hecla.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindHecla-Sixty mph winds were estimated by a trained spotter.
June 2011FloodHecla-Spring flooding along with additional heavy rainfall in June kept the James River well above flood stage throughout the month. The James River reached its highest point of 19.7 feet near Columbia on June 27th. Flood stage near Columbia is 13 feet. Several roads along with crop and pastureland remained flooded. The flooding continued into July.
August 2008Flash FloodHecla-Water was running over several roads throughout Hecla.
August 2008Flash FloodHecla-Heavy rains resulted in the flooding of several roads west of Hecla.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindHecla-Large branches were downed by sixty mph winds.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindHecla-Eighty mph winds destroyed a couple outbuildings, destroyed five grain bins, tipped over a couple mobile homes, and damaged some vehicles.
June 2005Tornado (F1)Hecla-A tornado touched down briefly southeast of Hecla and destroyed a garage.
June 2005Flash FloodHecla-Heavy rains of 3 to 5 inches caused flash flooding in far eastern Brown county from Groton to Hecla. Many roads and cropland were flooded.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindHecla-Seventy mph winds downed several trees and many large branches in Hecla.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindHecla-Seventy mph winds brought down several large trees and many branches. Some power lines were also downed.
July 2000Flash FloodHecla-Very heavy rains of 3 to 5 inches fell in far northeast Brown county flooding many roads and crops between Hecla and Houghton.
July 1999Tornado (F0)Hecla-A tornado occurred 10 west of Hecla with no damage reported. Path length and width were estimated.
April 2022FloodHecla-no account filed
August 2022FloodHecla-no account filed
May 2022FloodHecla-no account filed
July 2022HailHecla-no account filed
March 2020FloodHecla-no account filed
January 2020FloodHecla-no account filed
May 2020FloodHecla-no account filed
April 2020FloodHecla-no account filed
February 2020FloodHecla-no account filed
July 2020FloodHecla-no account filed
August 2020FloodHecla-no account filed
June 2020FloodHecla-no account filed
June 2019FloodHecla-no account filed
June 2019FloodHecla-no account filed
July 2019FloodHecla-no account filed
August 2019FloodHecla-no account filed
October 2019FloodHecla-no account filed
December 2019FloodHecla-no account filed
November 2019FloodHecla-no account filed
September 2019FloodHecla-no account filed
April 2018FloodHecla-no account filed
May 2018FloodHecla-no account filed
February 2017FloodHecla-no account filed
March 2017FloodHecla-no account filed
June 2015FloodHecla-no account filed
May 2015FloodHecla-no account filed
May 2015HailHecla-no account filed
July 2015FloodHecla-no account filed
August 2014FloodHecla-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Brown 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
Houghton8.8 miles14
Claremont16.3 miles10
Huffton18.7 miles9
Frederick19.1 miles10
Winship19.6 miles11
Columbia20.5 miles10
Barnard21.0 miles11
Putney22.3 miles9

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 HeclaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2386545The 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 1255502. 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.