Chidester, Arkansas
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Red Hill Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71726. The Survey maps it on the Chidester quadrangle. 253 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 236 feet above sea level.
On record in Chidester
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
Poison Spring State Parklisted 1969
Population over time
3 figuresChidester fell from 335 to 253 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 335 | |
| 2010 | 287 | -48 (-14%) |
| 2020 | 253 | -34 (-12%) |
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.
- 1901 USGS Gurdon quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Chidester quadrangle1:24000
- 1978 USGS Chidester quadrangle1:62500
- 1986 USGS Hope quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
78 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 78 fires within 5 miles of Chidester between 1997 and 2019, burning about 421 acres in total. 15 started naturally. 22 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 22 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18 |
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Natural | 15 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
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 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 26 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 24 September 2011 | Natural | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 September 1999 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 2 September 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 2 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 19 September 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 12 September 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 6.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
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 Chidester: 5 past producers, 1 producer, 1 unknown. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Clay, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hope Brick Co Pit | Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Chidester | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| No Name | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Jackson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
33 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chidester in 33 storm reports between 1993 and 2020: 16 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 lightning. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2009 | Flash Flood | Chidester | $75,000 | Arkansas Highway 57 west of Stephens was closed due to high water. Numerous county roads were closed across Ouachita County due to high water. |
| October 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | $15,000 | Trees were blown down onto Arkansas 24 and 57. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | $5,000 | Trees were blown down. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | $5,000 | A few large trees were blown down along Arkansas Highway 24. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds knocked down some trees. |
| October 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2009 | Flood | Chidester | - | Flash flooding which developed on the 17th became widespread areal flooding during the early hours of the 18th. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | Trees were down on Arkansas Highway 24. |
| March 2007 | Flash Flood | Chidester | - | Water was over Ouachita County Road 25. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | Numerous trees were blown down at various locations between Chidester and Bearden. |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | Thunderstorm winds downed about 25 large trees onto trails at White Oak State Park. |
| August 2005 | Flash Flood | Chidester | - | Heavy rains caused localized flooding at White Oak State Park. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | A cluster of severe thunderstorms moved across northern Ouachita County. The storms tracked from near Chidester to around Bearden, and downed numerous trees along the way. One tree fell on a mobile home at Chidester. The storms also pruduced torrential rainfall, with flooding reported later in the evening. |
| May 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down some large trees. |
| July 1997 | Hail | Chidester | - | Hail up to quarter size damaged the roofs of several buildings and some vehicles. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees. |
| February 2020 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| February 2020 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| October 2003 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| September 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| January 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| January 1997 | Lightning | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| April 1996 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| October 1996 | Hail | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| October 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| February 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chidester | - | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Chidester | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Van Wagoner (historical) | 2.2 miles | 15 | |
| Barham | 2.3 miles | 16 | |
| Red Hill | 2.8 miles | 16 | |
| Bragg City | 3.1 miles | 15 | |
| Good Hope | 4.5 miles | 16 | |
| Wyloe (historical) | 5.1 miles | 15 | |
| Sayre | 5.1 miles | 17 | |
| Wise (historical) | 5.5 miles | 15 |
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 Chidester | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q80189 | 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 57546. 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.








