Bluffton, Arkansas
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Bluffton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72827. It stands on Gafford Creek. The Survey maps it on the Bluffton quadrangle. It stands 440 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 16 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 Mount Ida quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1890 USGS Mt Ida quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Little Rock quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Little Rock quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Gravelly quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Little Rock quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Little Rock quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Lake Ouachita quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Bluffton quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
30 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 30 fires within 5 miles of Bluffton between 1997 and 2020, burning about 534 acres in total. 10 started naturally. 3 were 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 | 10 |
| Natural | 10 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 27 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Ouachita National Forest | not named |
| 25 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 19 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 40 acres | Ouachita National Forest | WAYCO |
| 14 September 1997 | Recreation and ceremony | 32 acres | Ouachita National Forest | TRAIL |
| 11 September 2000 | Smoking | 8.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 August 2012 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 20 August 2007 | Natural | 9.5 acres | Ouachita National Forest | CEDAR CREEK |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
10 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bluffton in 10 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 7 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flash 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | $75,000 | Trees and power lines were down across the area. Two houses were damaged by falling trees. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | $10,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down. |
| November 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed some trees. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | - | The emergency manager reported trees and power lines down across the county with some roadways blocked. |
| September 2020 | Flash Flood | Bluffton | - | Highway 28 was closed in both directions due to water over the road at Gafford Creek. |
| November 2005 | Tornado (F1) | Bluffton | - | A weak tornado touched down about 2 miles south of Bluffton. Winds associated with the tornado were estimated around 75 mph. Damage along the path of the tornado consisted of some snapped and uprooted trees, along with some downed power lines. The tornado was on the ground for about four and a half miles before lifting southwest of Briggsville. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | - | Thunderstorm winds downed several trees. |
| April 2004 | Hail | Bluffton | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | - | no account filed |
| February 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bluffton | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young Gravelly | 3.1 miles | 16 | |
| Pleasant Hill | 3.5 miles | 16 | |
| Fourche Valley | 3.5 miles | 16 | |
| Gravelly | 4.8 miles | 16 | |
| Waltreak | 5.5 miles | 16 | |
| Chalybeate Springs | 5.8 miles | 16 | |
| Briggsville | 6.0 miles | 13 | |
| Shark | 7.7 miles | 16 |
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 Bluffton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4930688 | 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 70742. 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.
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.








