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Mellette, South Dakota

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1895 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Mellette City. It lies in ZIP code area 57461. The Survey maps it on the Mellette quadrangle. 199 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,296 feet above sea level.

Mellette within Spink County

Population over time

2 figures

Mellette fell from 210 to 199 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
2010210
2020199-11 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 10 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

28 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 28 fires within 5 miles of Mellette between 1999 and 2018, burning about 1,296 acres in total. 2 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 burning12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Equipment and vehicle use4
Natural2
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
6 August 2001Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMellette Volunteer Fire DepartmentDELOY
19 July 2005Debris and open burning10 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
14 July 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
14 July 2003Natural1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
6 June 2018Naturalunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionTHOMPSON, NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
18 June 2007Debris and open burning1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
19 May 1999Smokingunder an acreBlack Hawk Volunteer Fire DepartmentI 90# 49
8 April 2005Debris and open burning800 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionLITTLE RIVER BURN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Spink County

Storms near this place

38 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mellette in 38 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 21 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 4 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
June 2023Thunderstorm WindMellette-The South Dakota Department of Transportation weather station near Mellette recorded a wind gust of 63 mph.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindMellette-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindMellette-The birdnest at the high school football field was blown down along with numerous branches downed in town.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindMellette-Many large tree limbs were downed in Mellette.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMellette-Winds over 100 mph downed many trees, broke off or bent many power poles, caused some structural damage, and broke off several signs.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindMellette-Some tree branches were brought down by winds over 70 mph.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindMellette-Winds gusting to 90 mph tore shingles off some roofs, downed some power poles, and some large trees. Also, some grain bins were destroyed, the crows nest at the sports complex was blown down, and at the airport a hanger door was blown off with some substantial hanger damage.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
July 2025HailMellette-no account filed
August 2024Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
April 2022HailMellette-no account filed
July 2022HailMellette-no account filed
July 2022Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
August 2021Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
August 2021Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
June 2017Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
August 2016Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
May 2015HailMellette-no account filed
July 2015HailMellette-no account filed
July 2015Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
June 2014Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
June 2014Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
July 2009FloodMellette-no account filed
June 2009FloodMellette-no account filed
August 2009FloodMellette-no account filed
September 2009FloodMellette-no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
June 2005HailMellette-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
June 2001HailMellette-no account filed
June 2001HailMellette-no account filed
July 2000HailMellette-no account filed
July 2000HailMellette-no account filed
July 2000HailMellette-no account filed
July 2000HailMellette-no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindMellette-no account filed
July 1995HailMellette-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Spink 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
Northville4.3 miles8
Gallup5.8 miles10
Duxbury6.0 miles10
Mansfield7.0 miles8
Brentford9.3 miles10
Ashton11.0 miles10
Athol11.3 miles8
Redfield19.3 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 MelletteAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1865642The 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 1256431. 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.