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Poynette, Wisconsin

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Poynette Village. It lies in ZIP code area 53955. The Survey maps it on the Poynette quadrangle. 2,590 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 840 feet above sea level.

Poynette within Columbia County

Population over time

2 figures

Poynette grew from 2,528 to 2,590 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
20102,528
20202,590+62 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 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.

In the county-history sources

21,887 words on this township

The History of Columbia County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement .., published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Poynette Village. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Schools. - The first settlement in the village of Lodi was made in the spring of 1846, and in the summer a log house was erected on Section 27, and school taught therein by Miss Mary Yockey. This house served until 1851, when a frame building was erected on the same section, the district being No. 1. John Foote taught the first winter term in 1848-49. The school districts of the town remained as organized by the Town Superintendent of Schools until 18l34. On the 17th day of September of that year, the Supervisors of the town, by order, attached the territory of Districts Nos. 2 and 6 to District No. 1. On the 8th day of October, 1864, by order of the Board, District No. 7 was also attached. On the 5th day of November, 1877, the portion of Joint District No. 3, lying within the town of Lodi, was attached, making tlie Union District composed of Nos. 1, 2, 6, 7, and a part of No. 3. The first school meeting of the consolidated districts was held September 26, 1864. At this meeting, H. M. Ayer was elected Director for three years; John B. Dwinnell, Treasurer, for two years; W. M. Bartholomew, Clerk, for one year. A special school meeting was held October 8, 1864, when the District Board was authorized to move one or more of the schoolhouses in the district as will best subserve the interest of the whole district. The object of uniting these school districts was to form a union school of high grade. Previous to this time. Prof. A. G. Riley had been teaching a select high school in the village, and had awakened considerable interest in a higher education than was then being taught by the common schools of the town. At the same time the State Superintendent of Public Schools, in his annual report, had placed the village in rather an unenviable light in comparison with Kilbourn City, Pardeeville, Wyocena, Cambria, Fall River, and Poynette, which aroused the pride of the citizens of Lodi, and steps were at once taken to remedy the matter. On the suggestion of the Superintendent the consolidation was effected. Prof Riley expressed himself ready to abandon his school if the change was made. He was chosen the first Principal of the Union School, which was opened Mondav, November 14, 1864.

Passage source: The History of Columbia County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement .., published 1880.

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 Poynette Village.

Fires near this place

146 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 146 fires within 5 miles of Poynette between 1992 and 2020, burning about 132 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 6 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
Equipment and vehicle use43
Debris and open burning43
Missing data/not specified/undetermined26
Railroad operations and maintenance8
Arson/incendiarism6
Other causes4
Recreation and ceremony4
Natural3
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Fireworks3
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Smoking1

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
29 August 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesBABYDOLL FIRE
21 August 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
20 August 2004Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
2 August 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesTROUT FARM
19 August 2003Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
17 August 1992Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
16 August 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 August 2009Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesWHEAT STALK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Columbia County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Poynette: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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
Kelton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Poynette QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Stevenson QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Columbia County

Storms near this place

25 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Poynette in 25 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 12 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2001LightningPoynette$15,000no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindPoynette$5,000no account filed
July 1999FloodPoynette$5,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindPoynette$4,000no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindPoynette$3,000no account filed
June 2018Tornado (EF0)Poynette$2,000Videos and pictures of the tornado were provided on social media. Minor tree damage likely occurred.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindPoynette$2,000Several trees and branches down.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindPoynette$1,000Measured wind gust of 69 mph near Poynette.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindPoynette$1,000Large tree down on Kent Road.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindPoynette-Scattered branches and trees down in the Poynette area.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindPoynette-Trees down.
July 2023HailPoynette-no account filed
April 2023HailPoynette-no account filed
May 2017HailPoynette-no account filed
July 2015HailPoynette-no account filed
July 2015HailPoynette-no account filed
June 2010HailPoynette-no account filed
June 2006HailPoynette-no account filed
October 2006HailPoynette-no account filed
October 2006HailPoynette-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindPoynette-no account filed
June 2005HailPoynette-no account filed
April 2002Thunderstorm WindPoynette-no account filed
September 2000HailPoynette-no account filed
April 1994HailPoynette-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Columbia 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
Arlington3.8 miles12
Lowville4.1 miles12
North Leeds5.8 miles12
Dekorra5.8 miles13
Leeds6.9 miles12
Leeds Center7.4 miles12
Harmony Grove8.0 miles22
Lodi8.4 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 PoynetteAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2103341The 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 1571865. 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.