River Falls, Wisconsin

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1990. It stands in River Falls City. It lies in ZIP code area 54022. It stands on South Fork Kinnickinnic River. The Survey maps it on the River Falls East quadrangle.

Research this city

River Falls within Pierce County

On record in River Falls

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 7 records

Roscius S. and Lydia R. Freeman Houselisted 2007
Glen Park Municipal Swimming Poollisted 2007
Glen Park Suspension Footbridgelisted 2018
North Hall-River Falls State Normal Schoollisted 1986
South Hall, River Falls State Normal Schoollisted 1976
Roscius and Ingebor Freeman Houselisted 2025
Jay and Bernice Grimm Houselisted 2025

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 12 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.

1946 USGS River Falls quadrangle1:62500
1949 USGS River Falls quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1953 USGS Saint Paul quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1953 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS Saint Paul quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:250000
1974 USGS River Falls East quadrangle1:24000
1985 USGS Hastings quadrangle1:100000
1990 USGS Hastings quadrangle1:100000

Fires near this place

13 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of River Falls between 2004 and 2020, burning about 66 acres in total. 1 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	8
Debris and open burning	3
Natural	1
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
27 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	223
20 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	219
21 August 2018	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	185
30 June 2004	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	not named
7 May 2019	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	113
5 May 2018	Natural	under an acre	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	97
11 May 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	108
28 April 2018	Debris and open burning	60 acres	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	91

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pierce County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 58 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 58 workings within 5 miles of River Falls: 41 past producers, 15 occurrences, 1 unknown, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Limestone, General. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Morrow Quarry	Stone	Unknown
River Falls Agricultural Lime Site	Limestone, General	Past Producer
Adolph Madsen Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Angel Hill Drive Gravel Deposit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Occurrence
Angel Hill Drive Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
C. & L. Deiss Gravel Deposit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Occurrence
Cady Lane Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Glover Road Sand Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Radio Road Sand Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Randall Road Gravel Pit #1	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Pierce County

Storms near this place

51 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names River Falls in 51 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 28 thunderstorm wind, 16 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 heavy rain. 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
May 2001	Hail	River Falls	$20,000,000	Wind driven baseball size hail damaged houses and vehicles, and knocked out hundreds of windows on the south side of town. The local University was particularly hard hit, including a greenhouse that was destroyed.
May 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	$1,000,000	no account filed
May 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	$500	no account filed
August 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Report on social media of a large tree snapped at the trunk.
September 2022	Hail	River Falls	-	Social media had several pictures of large hail that fell around River Falls, Wisconsin. One of the pictures measured 3 inches in diameter. Based on pictures and social media posts, there was a swath of this large hail that occurred on the northwest side of River Falls, and moved over the town, and exited on the southeast side.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	An eight inch diameter tree was blown down near River Falls.
October 2016	Hail	River Falls	-	A swath of dime and nickel size hail fell across northern Pierce County.
July 2015	Heavy Rain	River Falls	-	A measured rainfall report of 6.54 inches occurred in River Falls.
July 2015	Heavy Rain	River Falls	-	A CoCoRaHS observer measured 6.50 inches in a 4 hour period just south of River Falls.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Several large tree limbs were snapped off west of River Falls.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	A large tree was blown down between River Falls, and Prescott, Wisconsin.
August 2010	Flash Flood	River Falls	-	Numerous cars were stalled across the city of River Falls, Wisconsin due to rainfall amounts of three to five inches in less than 4 hours.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Several large tree limbs brought down across UW-River Falls campus. One 10 inch diameter pine tree top sheared off.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	About one dozen trees down across town, including some on power lines and vehicles.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	The River Falls street superintendent reported at least a dozen mature trees were toppled by the storm. This information reported by River Falls Journal.
August 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Numerous trees down.
October 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Large tree felled.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	A tree was downed onto 690th in River Falls Township.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	A few trees were downed.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	A few trees were downed on the north side of town.
June 2005	Tornado (F0)	River Falls	-	A tornado briefly touched down near the intersection of 900th Street and 850th Street in Section 16 of River Falls Township. The tornado downed more than 30 trees, blew off two access doors to an attic, and blew in the sliding door of a pole barn. After the tornado lifted, eyewitnesses said they saw the funnel cloud rise and fall from the storm as it moved to the northeast across Interstate 94. This storm was the same one that produced the F1 tornado in Hammond a short time later.
July 2005	Hail	River Falls	-	Pea to nickel sized hail was reported.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	A large oak tree was downed onto a car. Tree branches were downed between Maple and Division streets near Winter Street. A downed power line blocked Maple Street for about an hour.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Four inch tree limbs were downed near the intersection of County Road F and County Road M.
July 2005	Flash Flood	River Falls	-	An isolated slow-moving thunderstorm formed over the River Falls area shortly after 6 PM and moved very little for 2 hours. It produced torrential rainfall which caused flooding in River Falls and in nearby rural areas. The intersection of County Road F and County Road M about 5 miles west of River Falls was flooded. Driveway flooding was reported along or adjacent to Highway 35 north northwest of River Falls. In River Falls high water covered the following intersections: Main and Pine, Roosevelt and Winter, and Maple and Wesley. A total of 4.25 inches of rain was recorded in only 75 minutes just north of the Pierce/St. Croix county line northwest of River Falls. A total of 3.24 inches was recorded on the east side of River Falls. A community parade in progress in downtown River Falls was washed out by the untimely downpour.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Trees and branches were downed across town, including one which fell across the intersection of Fourth Street and Pine Street.
October 2005	Flash Flood	River Falls	-	Main Street and several other city streets were flooded.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	A large tree was downed.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Downed trees blocked 630th Avenue near County Road E.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Downed trees blocked a road.
September 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Trees down across road.
September 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Scattered trees down.
May 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Scattered trees down.
May 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Measured at Rocky Branch School. Numerous trees down.
July 2000	Hail	River Falls	-	Red Wing Republican newspaper reported an approximately two mile wide, 20 mile wide swath of destruction to crops began in the northwest portion of Pierce county (about 3 miles west of River Falls) and ended just north of Hager City. The vast majority of the damage was to corn, soybeans, small greens, and alfalfa crops. About 20,000 acres were lost. Twenty-one square miles were a total loss, and about about 40 square miles had some degree of damage from the windblown hail. Though not certain, it is likely this damage was from the same mesocyclone that produced widespread downburst damage from Lino Lakes, MN to Lake Elmo, MN (see corresponding entries in Minnesota portion).
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Scattered trees down. Minor damage to barns and outbuildings.
June 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Estimated windspeed.
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	Large trees blown down. Estimated windspeed.
May 2014	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
June 2013	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
July 2011	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	River Falls	-	no account filed
August 2008	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
June 2007	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
June 2005	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
April 2004	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
June 2001	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
May 2001	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
October 1996	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
October 1996	Hail	River Falls	-	no account filed
October 1996	Lightning	River Falls	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Pierce 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Beldenville	8.6 miles	12
Trimbelle	9.2 miles	14
Morton Corner	9.4 miles	11
Evergreen Estates	11.1 miles	15
Ellsworth	11.5 miles	15
East Ellsworth	12.1 miles	15
Martell	12.2 miles	11
Prescott	12.2 miles	12

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1572347. 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.