BlockBefore

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.

Zenda within Walworth County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 19 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

14,013 words on this township

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 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 2018

Regional 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 burning3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
7 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources18-165
29 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources18-152
22 April 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources18-145
18 March 2018Debris and open burning3.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources18-096
18 March 2018Debris and open burning30 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources55
18 March 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources56

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Walworth County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Casey PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Walworth County

Storms near this place

8 since 2001

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2020Tornado (EF0)Zenda$12,000Weak 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 2017Thunderstorm WindZenda$10,000Trees and power lines down in Linn Township and throughout central Walworth County.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindZenda$5,000Trees down.
August 2025FloodZenda$2,000A 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 2021Thunderstorm WindZenda$1,000Many 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 2018HailZenda-no account filed
January 2008HailZenda-no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindZenda-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Walworth 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
Linton1.9 miles19
Shady Side (historical)4.3 miles19
Lake Como5.5 miles19
Williams Bay5.5 miles19
Fontana5.6 miles19
Lake Geneva6.1 miles19
Walworth6.4 miles19
Como6.9 miles19

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 ZendaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q11275236The 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.