Zenda, Wisconsin
19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1980. It stands in Linn town. It lies in ZIP code area 53147. The Survey maps it on the Lake Geneva quadrangle. It stands 978 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 19 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.
- 1893 USGS Geneva quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1904 USGS Lake Geneva quadrangle1:62500
- 1906 USGS Lake Geneva quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Lake Geneva quadrangle1:62500
- 1960 USGS Lake Geneva quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1963 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Lake Geneva quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
14,013 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 Linn Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
This, the most beautiful lake in Southern Wisconsin, lies mostly in the two northern tiers of sections, and extends from east to west, entirely across the township. Its shores give a water-front in the town of nearly fourteen miles, still thickly wooded and skirted with villas. Summer residences, hotels, etc., nearly the entire distance. The water area within the town is about six square miles. It covers parts of Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ; all of Section 7 ; and parts of Sections 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17 and 18.
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 Linn Town - it names this place 2 more 2 times.
Fires near this place
6 since 2018Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Zenda in 2018, burning about 38 acres in total. None 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 18-165 |
| 29 April 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 18-152 |
| 22 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 18-145 |
| 18 March 2018 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 18-096 |
| 18 March 2018 | Debris and open burning | 30 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 55 |
| 18 March 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 56 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Zenda: 1 past producer. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casey Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
8 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Zenda in 8 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2020 | Tornado (EF0) | Zenda | $12,000 | Weak tornado started on the southeast end of Geneva Lake and went through the southeast side of Lake Geneva. Mainly tree damage along the path, but some minor structural damage in the business district bounded by highways 120, 50 and 12. Path appeared to end just south of the Grand Geneva resort. |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zenda | $10,000 | Trees and power lines down in Linn Township and throughout central Walworth County. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zenda | $5,000 | Trees down. |
| August 2025 | Flood | Zenda | $2,000 | A couple reports of flooding on State Line Road. One report of 6 inches of standing water on the road with another report of several inches of flowing water over the road. Also a report of basement flooding in and near Sharon. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zenda | $1,000 | Many small to medium sized branches snapped off trees. A small shed blown over. A trampoline, secured by rebar, was dislodged and thrown well off property. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Zenda | - | no account filed |
| January 2008 | Hail | Zenda | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Zenda | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linton | 1.9 miles | 19 | |
| Shady Side (historical) | 4.3 miles | 19 | |
| Lake Como | 5.5 miles | 19 | |
| Williams Bay | 5.5 miles | 19 | |
| Fontana | 5.6 miles | 19 | |
| Lake Geneva | 6.1 miles | 19 | |
| Walworth | 6.4 miles | 19 | |
| Como | 6.9 miles | 19 |
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 Zenda | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q11275236 | 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 1577124. 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.









