De Forest, Wisconsin
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1991. It stands in DeForest Village. It lies in ZIP code area 53532. The Survey maps it on the De Forest quadrangle. 10,811 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 948 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresDe Forest grew from 8,936 to 10,811 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 | 8,936 | |
| 2020 | 10,811 | +1,875 (+21%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 24 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.
- 1890 USGS Madison quadrangle1:62500
- 1892 USGS Madison quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1904 USGS Madison quadrangle1:62500
- 1906 USGS Madison quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1957 USGS Madison quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS De Forest quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Madison quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Madison quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS De Forest quadrangle1:24000
- 1991 USGS Madison quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
24 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 24 fires within 5 miles of De Forest between 1994 and 2020, burning about 19 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were 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 | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 September 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 1060 |
| 22 September 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 1183 |
| 5 July 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | KLEINERT ROAD |
| 31 July 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 955 |
| 18 July 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 26 June 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 16 June 2007 | Smoking | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 May 2020 | Smoking | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 608 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of De Forest: 6 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paulson Schwenn Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Francis Nordness Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Johnson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Norway Grove Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Norway Grove Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Token Creek Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
23 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names De Forest in 23 storm reports between 1997 and 2026: 12 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 3 funnel cloud, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Forest | $50,000 | Many trees uprooted and snapped in DeForest. Power poles and powerlines down. A tree down on a house. Roof damage and siding damage to some homes from the strong winds. |
| March 2019 | Flood | De Forest | $50,000 | Portions of many roads flooded and closed mainly over the western half of Dane Co. More specifically, flooded roads in the deeper valleys and near creeks and the Sugar River. Large portions of highway 78 was flooded and closed and highway 69 from US 151 to near Paoli. Highway 19 was closed at the intersection with highway KP. Portions of South Point Rd. on the far west side of Madison was flooded and closed. Several streets and adjacent yards in De Forest were flooded by the Yahara River. Voluntary evacuations occurred in De Forest. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Forest | $2,000 | Large branches down in DeForest. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Forest | $2,000 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Forest | $500 | A large tree snapped at its base. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Forest | - | Estimated wind gust of 58 mph. |
| February 2017 | Hail | De Forest | - | Hail Covering the ground. |
| June 2010 | Funnel Cloud | De Forest | - | Law enforcement officials reported a funnel cloud over De Forest. The time is estimated from radar imagery. |
| May 2004 | Tornado (F0) | De Forest | - | A tornado spun up 1.2 miles southeast of DeForest (Dane Co.) around 1759 CST, and dissipated around 1804 CST, 1.9 miles east of De Forest (Dane Co.). Specifically, it spun up just northeast of the intersection of STH 51 and Vinburn Rd. and ended about 0.1 mile southwest of the intersection of Mueller Rd. and Portage Rd. The tornado's path was 1.3 miles long and 25 yards wide. No damage was reported and this tornado was determined to be an F0. Average width was about 25 yards. |
| April 2025 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| September 2022 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| September 2016 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Funnel Cloud | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | De Forest | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Funnel Cloud | De Forest | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor | 2.0 miles | 24 | |
| Morrisonville | 2.2 miles | 12 | |
| Lake Windsor | 3.0 miles | 24 | |
| Norway Grove | 3.1 miles | 24 | |
| Token Creek | 4.5 miles | 24 | |
| Raintree | 4.6 miles | 24 | |
| Wynbrooke | 4.9 miles | 24 | |
| Foxmoor Hills | 5.6 miles | 24 |
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 De Forest | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2335698 | 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 1563756. 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.









