Waunakee, Wisconsin
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Waunakee Village. It lies in ZIP code area 53597. The Survey maps it on the Waunakee quadrangle. 14,879 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 928 feet above sea level.
On record in Waunakee
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 1 record
Waunakee Railroad Depotlisted 1978
Population over time
2 figuresWaunakee grew from 12,097 to 14,879 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 | 12,097 | |
| 2020 | 14,879 | +2,782 (+23%) |
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 Madison quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Waunakee quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Madison quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS Waunakee quadrangle1:24000
- 1991 USGS Madison quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
11 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Waunakee between 2000 and 2020, burning about 84 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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 | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 246 |
| 6 July 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 342 |
| 16 June 2007 | Smoking | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 April 2004 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 29 April 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 491 |
| 27 April 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 1809771 |
| 27 April 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 82 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 31 March 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 2019-28 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Waunakee: 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endres 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 | ||
| Schumacher Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Westport Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Yahara Materials Company Kipley Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
33 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waunakee in 33 storm reports between 1997 and 2026: 12 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 3 tornado, 3 flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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 1997 | Tornado (F1) | Waunakee | 1 hurt, $388,500 | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Flood | Waunakee | $32,800,000 | Black Earth Creek crested at 9.73 feet at Black Earth around 2:00 AM on 8/21/18, and at 16.6 feet at Mazomanie around 7:00 AM. The Sugar River and many other creeks and low lying areas continued to flood. The historic flooding resulted in hundreds of citizens rescued, evacuated, or stranded, especially along the highway 14 corridor which parallels Black Earth Creek and then continues into Middleton and Madison. Homes and businesses in Cross Plains, Black Earth, Mazomanie, Middleton, and the west side of Madison were most impacted. Overall, Dane County had 380 homes with affected damage, 857 homes with minor damage, 302 homes with major damage, and 5 homes destroyed. 27 businesses had minor damage and 17 suffered major damage. |A bridge was partially washed out on highway 14 near Black Earth, with highway 14 being closed from Middleton to the Iowa County line due to many washouts and high water. Many other roads in western Dane County were closed due to washouts and high water, including southbound 151 near Mount Horeb and large portions of highway 78. 5000 feet of railroad tracks on the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad were washed out between Mazomanie and Madison. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | $151,400 | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Tornado (F1) | Waunakee | $130,000 | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Lightning | Waunakee | $40,000 | A home in Waunakee sustained heavy fire damage due to a lightning strike. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | $6,000 | Several trees and branches down. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | $5,000 | Some trees uprooted and snapped. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | $5,000 | Around 1930 CST (830 PM CDT) thunderstorm wind gusts took a roof off a house 2 miles east of Waunakee. Winds were estimated at 70 knots (80 mph). About 5,000 dollars in damage resulted. |
| May 2000 | Flood | Waunakee | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | $3,000 | Pictures from social media indicating numerous large branches down across Waunakee. |
| March 2005 | Tornado (F0) | Waunakee | $2,000 | A weak F0 tornado spun up east of Waunakee on a seed farm on the north side of State Highway 19. It slightly damaged the corner overhang of a storage shed, blew a wagon and plastic crates into a field, and rotated a heavy forklift while the operator was sitting in it. The winds were estimated at 56 to 61 knots (65 to 70 mph). |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | $1,000 | Top of a tree snapped and another tree snapped at its base. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | $1,000 | A tree down. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | - | Two trees snapped off at the base. |
| June 2022 | Flood | Waunakee | - | Water covering Knightsbridge Road. |
| July 2020 | Heavy Rain | Waunakee | - | Flooding on a small portion of Division St. due to the flooding of the nearby Six Mile Creek after a quick 2-3 inches of rain. |
| March 2005 | Hail | Waunakee | - | Ground covered white. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| April 2025 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| April 2024 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| April 2023 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| September 2021 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Funnel Cloud | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Hail | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Heavy Rain | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | - | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Waunakee | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kingsley Corners | 2.4 miles | 24 | |
| Catfish (historical) | 3.9 miles | 24 | |
| Dane | 4.7 miles | 22 | |
| Norway Grove | 4.8 miles | 24 | |
| Mendota | 4.9 miles | 24 | |
| Ashton Corners | 5.0 miles | 15 | |
| Ashton | 5.8 miles | 15 | |
| Lake Windsor | 5.8 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 Waunakee | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1246532 | 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 1576318. 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.









