Jordan

Overview

A railroad hamlet and the tornado of 1976

Jordan grew up beside the Chicago and North Western Railway a few miles east of Boone. It was known as Midway and as Harmon's Switch before the railroad named it Jordan, after the Jordan River, and it was never formally platted. It stayed small: 12 people in 1902, 26 in 1925 and 69 in 1940. The 1916 USGS map shows a handful of buildings on the tracks and a school a little to the west.

On the afternoon of June 13, 1976 a tornado formed southwest of Luther a little before 3:30 and moved north. The Iowa Weather Network describes it as nearly a mile wide when it raked Jordan, destroying nearly everything in its path; Wikipedia, citing the National Climatic Data Center, gives a path about half a mile wide and 21 miles long. It was rated F5. Nearly every house and business in Jordan was destroyed, but all the residents survived. An anticyclonic tornado, rated F3, ran two miles to the southeast, and the two turned right at the same time. Ted Fujita, who devised the scale, called it one of the most intense and destructive tornadoes he had studied.

Undated ghost town listings say Jordan has had only a few residents since, and describe it as partly dead: a large grain elevator beside the busy Union Pacific line and a few residents. Fifty years on, in June 2026, the Boone County Historical Society gathered survivors and witnesses to tell the story.

Timeline

From Harmon's Switch to the F5

1. Before 1902A stop on the Chicago and North Western Railway east of Boone, known as Midway and as Harmon's Switch before it takes the name Jordan, after the Jordan River. It is never formally platted.
2. 1902Population: 12.
3. 1916The USGS Boone sheet shows Jordan's buildings on the railroad, with the Jordan School to the west and Fitzgerald to the east.
4. 1925Population: 26.
5. 1940Population: 69.
6. 1965The USGS Boone East sheet maps a small cluster of buildings beside the tracks.
7. Jun 13, 1976An F5 tornado crosses Jordan in the afternoon and destroys nearly every house and business. All the residents survive.
8. Jun 2026The Boone County Historical Society marks the 50th anniversary with a talk by survivors and witnesses and a display at its History Center.

What's left

Jordan today

We have found no dated report from Jordan since the tornado. Undated ghost town listings describe a large grain elevator, visible from a distance, beside the railroad, and a few residents. The homes and the elevator are private; the county road through the site is public.

The historic maps below show what the tornado took. The 1916 Boone sheet draws Jordan as a few buildings on the Chicago and North Western, the Jordan School to the west and the hamlet of Fitzgerald to the east, with the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern line angling down to Ericson. The 1965 Boone East sheet shows a tight cluster of buildings beside the tracks and a county road. On the 1985 Ames sheet Jordan is only a name beside the railroad.

• Grain elevator beside the railroad (undated listing)
• A few homes (undated listing)
• The railroad line, now Union Pacific

Historic maps

Jordan on USGS maps, 1916–1985

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19161:62,50019651:24,00019851:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Jordan is on 210th Street (County Road E41) a few miles east of Boone. From Des Moines, take I-235 and I-35 north, then US 30 west and T Avenue. The townsite is lived in: stay on the public road.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Have photos of Jordan?

We haven’t added more photographs of Jordan yet. If you’ve visited, share your photos and a field report below.

Visitor reports

Been to Jordan?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Jordan

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Iowa index.

• Zenorsville5.3 mi NE · Boone
• Mackey8.2 mi N · Boone
• Coal Valley8.6 mi W · Boone
• Zook Spur14.4 mi S · Dallas
• Iowa Center21.2 mi SE · Story
• Angus22.3 mi SW · Boone
• Herrold22.8 mi S · Polk
• Van Cleve40.1 mi E · Marshall

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Jordan", read October 29, 2026 (undated): county, 2WD on a well-maintained county road, climate, best time, the large grain elevator and a few residents, the busy Union Pacific line, partly dead since the 1970s tornado.
2. Wikipedia, "Jordan, Iowa", read October 29, 2026: coordinates and GNIS ID, elevation, Midway and Harmon's Switch, the Jordan River name, never platted, the populations of 1902, 1925 and 1940, the June 13, 1976 F5 and its path, all residents surviving, the anticyclonic F3, Fujita's view.
3. Jeff Wilcox, Iowa Weather Network, "Jordan F5 Tornado of 1976", June 13, 2012: the start southwest of Luther before 3:30 p.m., nearly a mile wide at Jordan, destroying nearly everything in its path.
4. KWBG, "Marty Lamoureux, Boone County Historical Society", June 10, 2026: the 50th-anniversary presentation by survivors and witnesses and the display at the History Center.
5. John M. Brown and Kevin R. Knupp, "The Iowa Cyclonic-Anticyclonic Tornado Pair and Its Parent Thunderstorm", Monthly Weather Review 108 (1980): the tornado pair (as cited by Wikipedia).
6. Historic maps: USGS Boone 1:62,500 (1916), Boone East 1:24,000 (1965) and Ames 1:100,000 (1985).
7. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits

• The tornado beside a westbound US 30 sign, June 13, 1976, on the front page of the next day's Des Moines Register: Thomas E. Hooper, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Boone 1916, 1:62,500; Boone East 1965, 1:24,000; Ames 1985, 1:100,000.