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Balsam Lake, Wisconsin

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Balsam Lake Village. It lies in ZIP code area 54810. It lies near First Island. The Survey maps it on the Balsam Lake quadrangle. 934 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,089 feet above sea level.

Balsam Lake within Polk County

On record in Balsam Lake

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Balsam Lake fell from 1,009 to 934 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
20101,009
2020934-75 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 14 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

6 since 2018

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Balsam Lake between 2018 and 2019, burning about 17 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/undetermined5
Debris and open burning1

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
7 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources18
6 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources60
20 May 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources60
1 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources15
25 April 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2919
25 April 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources3019

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Polk County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Balsam Lake: 6 occurrences, 2 producers, 2 past producers, 1 plant. 3 still produce. 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
Apple River Cemetery Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Balsam Branch Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Balsam Lake Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Frank Svoboda PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
J. Nelson MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionPlant
J. Nelson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Long Lake Snd Deposit #2Sand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Long Lkae Sand Deposit #1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Otter Lake Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Toby Creek Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence

Every working recorded in Polk County

Storms near this place

18 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Balsam Lake in 18 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 11 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 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
July 2010Tornado (EF0)Balsam Lake$100,000A tornado traveled from west to east across the northern edge of the village of Balsam Lake. A small grove of large trees was completely uprooted just north of downtown Balsam Lake. There were 2 garages which has all sides blown in. Other large trees were snapped or uprooted, with a few ending up on houses. A shed was blown over.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake$15,000Downburst wind damage was evident in central Balsam Lake, south of the EF-0 tornado that moved east to west along West Main Street (Highway 46). The downburst caused several signs and trees to be blown down. A garage was also damaged.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-County Dispatch reported trees down in the village of Balsam Lake.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-Photos of a damaged farm showed the roof partially off a large machine shed, a collapsed shed, and a collapsed garage. Time estimated from radar.
July 2019Tornado (EF1)Balsam Lake-This tornado started in Polk County and dissipated in Barron County. A damage survey and aerial photos showed many hundreds of trees down from the tornado, which was surrounded by a massive area of severe downburst winds that downed thousands of trees. The tornado itself knocked down sheds, took roofs off barns and outbuildings, and snapped or knocked down trees, some of which landed on houses and vehicles.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-Numerous large trees and power lines were blown down around Balsam Lake, Wisconsin.
July 2010HailBalsam Lake-Several trained spotters reported dime, up to half dollar size hail around Balsam Lake, Wisconsin.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-Tree down across road.
April 2004Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-Several trees were downed onto power lines.
September 2004Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-Trees were downed on 120th St. in Milltown Township. The time was estimated.
July 1999Tornado (F0)Balsam Lake-Few trees and power lines down along six blocks in Balsam Lake. Pole barn down on the east side of Balsam Lake.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-Barn blown down. Estimated windspeed.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-Strong winds, lightning and tree branches downed at least 25 power lines in the area around Balsam Lake.
September 2024HailBalsam Lake-no account filed
July 2015HailBalsam Lake-no account filed
June 2005HailBalsam Lake-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindBalsam Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Polk 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
Lykens2.1 miles14
Bunyan4.9 miles14
Centuria5.3 miles22
Milltown5.8 miles16
Fox Creek6.2 miles14
Lamar6.4 miles22
Ubet7.9 miles22
Sand Lake8.0 miles22

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 Balsam LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q805531The 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 1561143. 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.