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Jefferson, South Dakota

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Jefferson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 57038. The Survey maps it on the Jefferson quadrangle. 475 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,115 feet above sea level.

Jefferson within Union County

On record in Jefferson

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 within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Population over time

2 figures

Jefferson fell from 547 to 475 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
2010547
2020475-72 (-13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 22 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

41 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 41 fires within 5 miles of Jefferson between 1998 and 2020, burning about 324 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/undetermined23
Debris and open burning10
Equipment and vehicle use3
Recreation and ceremony2
Fireworks2
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
29 September 2020Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionBERNARD
6 July 1999Fireworksunder an acreNorth Sioux Volunteer Fire DepartmentDAKOTA DUNES
5 July 2002Fireworksunder an acreNorth Sioux Volunteer Fire DepartmentI-29 MM 4
4 July 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionNORTON
22 July 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
20 July 2007Debris and open burning20 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
11 July 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionI29 12
9 June 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresJefferson Volunteer Fire DepartmentDURAN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Union County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Jefferson: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. 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
Miller QuarryClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Union County

Storms near this place

32 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Jefferson in 32 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 18 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 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
June 1999HailJefferson$300,000no account filed
October 2013Tornado (EF1)Jefferson$200,000A tornado severely damaged the roof and gutters of a house, and the walls and roof of at least two storage equipment buildings. The tornado caused tree damage, including trunks snapped and large branches blown down, damaged a road sign, blew down or crushed several grain bins, blew down power poles and lines, and flattened corn crops. One of the destroyed grain bins was wrapped around a house, causing damage to the roof, siding, and gutters of the house. The tornado then crossed the Big Sioux River into Plymouth County Iowa.
July 1996HailJefferson$20,000no account filed
August 2011Thunderstorm WindJefferson$10,000Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down. The winds also blew off shingles off a business roof, and blew down power lines, causing a power outage.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured by a Road Weather Information System sensor near North Sioux City.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured by a Road Weather Information System sensor in North Sioux City.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Windows were broken and portions of the roof were removed from a single family home. | The thunderstorm winds also downed numerous large tree limbs.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Thunderstorm winds peeled part of a roof from an outbuilding.
March 2023HailJefferson-Half dollar size hail was observed two miles north-northwest of Jefferson. The largest hail only lasted for one minute in duration.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindJefferson-A thunderstorm wind gust of 62 mph was measured by South Dakota Road Weather Information System site SD550 3 miles southeast of Jefferson.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindJefferson-A thunderstorm wind gust of 79 mph was measured by South Dakota Road Weather Information System site SD550 3 miles southeast of Jefferson.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Numerous powerlines and trees were downed through the city of Jefferson.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindJefferson-A brief period of thunderstorm wind gusts of 58 mph or greater was measured by South Dakota Road Weather Information System site SD550 3 mile southeast of Jefferson. A peak wind gust of 65 mph occurred at 1532CST.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Multiple semi-trucks were flipped on I-29 between Elk Point and Jefferson.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down.
March 2009Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Thunderstorm winds overturned a semi truck at a weigh station.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindJefferson-Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees.
June 2024HailJefferson-no account filed
June 2017HailJefferson-no account filed
May 2015HailJefferson-no account filed
October 2010HailJefferson-no account filed
July 2005HailJefferson-no account filed
August 2005HailJefferson-no account filed
August 2005Thunderstorm WindJefferson-no account filed
April 2004HailJefferson-no account filed
May 2004HailJefferson-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindJefferson-no account filed
June 2002HailJefferson-no account filed
May 2000Thunderstorm WindJefferson-no account filed
June 2000Thunderstorm WindJefferson-no account filed
May 1998HailJefferson-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Union 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
McCook Lake5.1 miles22
North Sioux City6.6 miles12
Elk Point8.6 miles20
Dakota Dunes8.8 miles13
Richland11.9 miles19
Junction City17.5 miles18
Spink19.9 miles19
Midway21.8 miles18

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 JeffersonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2661951The 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 1255817. 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.