Little Prairie, Wisconsin
32 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1980. It stands in Troy town. It lies in ZIP code area 53120. The Survey maps it on the Little Prairie quadrangle. It stands 955 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 32 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.
- 1892 USGS Whitewater quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Whitewater quadrangle1:62500, 7 printings
- 1903 USGS Whitewater quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1924 USGS Whitewater quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Little Prairie quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Whitewater quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1963 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Lake Geneva quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
14,241 words on this townshipHistory of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882 names this settlement in its chapter on Troy Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The Porter families, with their ehildi-en, vere the basis of what was known as the "Porter Settlement,"' near the western central portion of the town. Within the next few years after their arrival, settlers came in very rapidly, among others, there was J'ames Stratton, father of W. J. Stratton, who located on Section 20, in the summer of 1843. His family consisted of his wife and only child. His brother-in-law, Moses Kelloway, had arrived the previous year, and both settled upon the sapie section. Dm-ing the winter of 1843, the first district school established near the settlement was opened near S. B. Chatfleld's house, and the then youthful W. J. Stratton confesses that he has good cause to remember who taught it - John Stewai-t, of La Grange. After the people of the district had used the little log building for educational and religious pm-poses for some seven years, a faction, which may be denominated the aristocratic element, clamored for a frame structure. Their opponents were sturdy, and the last meeting held in the building ended in open warfare. The meeting dispersed, but those who believed that they had outgrown the log schoolhouse did not go to their homes. Before the next morning sun rose, the log building was leveled to the ground, and a frame building duly made its appearance.
Passage source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882.
The Bible Christians organized a society at Little Prairie about the year 1858, holding their first services in a schoolhouse. They subsequently purchased the " Temperance Hall," and remodeled it into a church building, which was destroyed by fire. About l874. the society built another chiu'ch, and organized a society, the first members of which were Joseph Lackey, James Baird, Jerome Cook, Hemy Cook. William H Morrison, William Malcolmson, Thomas Coombs and others. A Sabbath school has been maintained in connection with the church. The first pastor was Rev. Hem-y El)betts, who has been succeeded by the following clergymen:
Passage source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882.
The society of the Seventh-Day Adventists of Little Prairie held their first meeting January ly, 1807, at the house of C. W. Olds, in the town of Eagle, Waukesha Co., Wis. The first Trustees were Pliny Potter, 0. W. Olds and William Cartley. The society owns a church building, but it is not at present in a very flom-ishing condition.
Passage source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Troy Town - it names this place 1 more 1 time.
Fires near this place
20 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 20 fires within 5 miles of Little Prairie between 2010 and 2018, burning about 91 acres in total. None started naturally. 7 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 | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | MCMILLER RANGE FIRE |
| 7 April 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.6 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | MCMILLER RANGE |
| 4 April 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | CARLIN TRAIL |
| 30 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 18028 |
| 30 April 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 4.4 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | BLUFF ROAD 1 |
| 30 April 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | BLUFF ROAD 2 |
| 30 April 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 2018024 |
| 30 April 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 2018025 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Little Prairie: 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Nelson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Little Prairie in 5 storm reports between 2006 and 2026: 3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. 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 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Prairie | $5,000 | Sporadic tree damage across northern Walworth County. |
| October 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Little Prairie | - | Powerful thunderstorm winds knocked down large trees. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Little Prairie | - | no account filed |
| May 2025 | Hail | Little Prairie | - | no account filed |
| October 2006 | Hail | Little Prairie | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 2.7 miles | 32 | |
| Lauderdale Shores | 4.2 miles | 32 | |
| La Grange | 4.3 miles | 32 | |
| Troy Center | 4.4 miles | 24 | |
| Lauderdale | 5.2 miles | 32 | |
| Mayhews (historical) | 5.8 miles | 24 | |
| Troy | 6.5 miles | 24 | |
| Heart Prairie | 7.4 miles | 32 |
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 Little Prairie | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q6651399 | 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 1568373. 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.










