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.
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
John Lindstrom Round Barnlisted 2016
Polk County Courthouselisted 1982
Population over time
2 figuresBalsam 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,009 | |
| 2020 | 934 | -75 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 14 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.
- 1950 USGS Balsam Lake quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Balsam Lake NW quadrangle1:24000
- 1975 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1978 USGS Balsam Lake quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
6 since 2018Regional 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/undetermined | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 18 |
| 6 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 60 |
| 20 May 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 60 |
| 1 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 15 |
| 25 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 2919 |
| 25 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 3019 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 11 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple River Cemetery Gravel Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Balsam Branch Gravel Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Balsam Lake Gravel Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Frank Svoboda Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| J. Nelson Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant | ||
| J. Nelson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Long Lake Snd Deposit #2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Long Lkae Sand Deposit #1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Otter Lake Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Toby Creek Gravel Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
18 since 1995Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Balsam Lake | $100,000 | A 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 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | $15,000 | Downburst 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 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | - | County Dispatch reported trees down in the village of Balsam Lake. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam 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 2019 | Tornado (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 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | - | Numerous large trees and power lines were blown down around Balsam Lake, Wisconsin. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Balsam Lake | - | Several trained spotters reported dime, up to half dollar size hail around Balsam Lake, Wisconsin. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | - | Tree down across road. |
| April 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | - | Several trees were downed onto power lines. |
| September 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | - | Trees were downed on 120th St. in Milltown Township. The time was estimated. |
| July 1999 | Tornado (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 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | - | Barn blown down. Estimated windspeed. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | - | Strong winds, lightning and tree branches downed at least 25 power lines in the area around Balsam Lake. |
| September 2024 | Hail | Balsam Lake | - | no account filed |
| July 2015 | Hail | Balsam Lake | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Balsam Lake | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | - | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Balsam Lake | - | 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.
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 Lake | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q805531 | 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 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.








