Volga, South Dakota
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Volga City. It lies in ZIP code area 57071. The Survey maps it on the Volga quadrangle. 2,113 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,634 feet above sea level.
On record in Volga
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
Hall, John L., Houselisted 2010
Henry-Martinson Houselisted 1977
Volga Auditoriumlisted 2000- Volga Hospitallisted 2023
Population over time
2 figuresVolga grew from 1,768 to 2,113 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 | 1,768 | |
| 2020 | 2,113 | +345 (+20%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 8 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 Watertown quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Watertown quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1968 USGS Volga quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Brookings quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
19 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Volga between 1999 and 2020, burning about 514 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 | 7 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2003 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 31 July 2008 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 14 July 2002 | Fireworks | under an acre | Brookings County | AYERS |
| 12 July 2003 | Fireworks | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 28 May 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | JAMES OLSON |
| 9 April 2006 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 5 April 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 4 April 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Brookings County | 214 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Volga: 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson Sand & Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Sand & Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Sand & Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Sand & Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
37 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Volga in 37 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 16 thunderstorm wind, 16 hail, 3 tornado, 1 lightning. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2004 | Hail | Volga | $50,000 | Large hail dented vehicles, cracked windows, and damaged siding. |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | $20,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree and power line damage, causing power outages. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage. |
| July 1998 | Lightning | Volga | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Thunderstorms knocked over a couple of light poles near U.S. Highway 14 in Volga. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Several 4 to 5 inch diameter tree limbs were downed by thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured by South Dakota Mesonet station VGAS2 Volga. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Winds were measured by a personal weather station. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Thunderstorm winds were measured by South Dakota Mesonet station VGAS2 Volga. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts up to 58 mph were measured at the South Dakota State University Mesonet site near Volga. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | A thunderstorm wind gust of 73 mph was measured by South Dakota State University mesonet site VGAS2 1 mile south of Volga. |
| June 2022 | Hail | Volga | - | Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| May 2022 | Funnel Cloud | Volga | - | A brief funnel was observed. |
| May 2022 | Tornado (EF1) | Volga | - | A tornado spun up in an open field 4 miles south-southwest of Volga, west of 463rd Avenue and south of 214th St. The tornado moved generally eastward for around one-half mile, before it impacted a farmstead and caused considerable damage to the barn. The tornado then moved across 463rd Avenue into an open field and dissipated after another one-third mile. The estimated maximum wind speed was 95 mph and the average path width was 40 yards. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Two grain bins were blown off their foundations. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | A thunderstorm wind gust of 74 mph was measured by South Dakota State University mesonet site VGAS2 1 mile south of Volga. |
| September 2020 | Hail | Volga | - | Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including one large tree blown down which blocked a road. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down, and also blew down fences. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down a tree. |
| August 2015 | Tornado (EF0) | Volga | - | A brief tornado damaged corn crops. |
| August 2015 | Hail | Volga | - | Large hail caused an unknown amount of damage to vehicles. The hail was accompanied by estimated 50 mph wind gusts. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | Thunderstorm winds cause tree damage, including several trees blown down. |
| June 2012 | Hail | Volga | - | Large hail caused an unknown amount of damage to vehicles and crops. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Volga | - | Large hail caused generally minor damage to vehicles. Most of the hail was penny size or smaller, with a few stones up to 2 inches in diameter. Several of the larger stones were flat with visible rings. |
| June 2001 | Tornado (F0) | Volga | - | A brief tornado caused no reported damage. |
| May 2000 | Hail | Volga | - | Large hail caused damage in Volga, but the amount of damage was not known. |
| April 2022 | Hail | Volga | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Volga | - | no account filed |
| September 2020 | Hail | Volga | - | no account filed |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Volga | - | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Hail | Volga | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Volga | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Volga | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Volga | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Volga | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Volga | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brookings | 6.8 miles | 9 | |
| Sheldon Trailor Town | 7.0 miles | 9 | |
| Ahnberg | 7.0 miles | 9 | |
| Sunnyview | 7.6 miles | 9 | |
| Bruce | 8.1 miles | 8 | |
| Sinai | 8.2 miles | 9 | |
| North Grove Addition | 10.4 miles | 9 | |
| Medary | 10.8 miles | 11 |
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 Volga | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q615655 | 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 1258770. 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.



