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Emerson, Arkansas

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Emerson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71740. The Survey maps it on the Emerson quadrangle. 293 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 322 feet above sea level.

Emerson within Columbia County

Population over time

2 figures

Emerson fell from 368 to 293 between 2010 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.

YearPeople Change
2010368
2020293-75 (-20%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 13 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.

Fires near this place

59 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 59 fires within 5 miles of Emerson between 1998 and 2019, burning about 708 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 13 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/undetermined22
Arson/incendiarism13
Debris and open burning11
Natural5
Smoking3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
4 September 1998Debris and open burning80 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2015Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
24 September 2015Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
22 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
14 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
19 August 1999Smoking1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
18 August 2000Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
17 August 1999Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Columbia County

Storms near this place

31 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Emerson in 31 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 13 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 1997Tornado (F1)Emerson$200,000A tornado touched down 1 mile southwest of Cotton Valley in Webster Parish, LA., and moved northeast past Shangaloo into Columbia County, AR., 7 miles southwest of Emerson. The tornado snapped numerous trees and damaged one home.
July 2007LightningEmerson$80,000Lightning struck an oil and saltwater tank about 2 miles north of the La. state line just off Hwy. 79. Resultant fire spread and burned 8 tanks...three of which completely melted. Multiple fire agencies on the Louisiana and Arkansas side of the fire needed to be called in to extinguish the fire. No injuries or evacuations were reported.
November 1994Thunderstorm WindEmerson$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed several trees.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindEmerson$5,000Thunderstorm winds knocked down several trees.
April 2026HailEmerson-Quarter size hail reported on South Elm Street in Emerson.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindEmerson-Pictures were posted to social media of dozens of trees that were blown down in and near Emerson.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindEmerson-Tree reported down on Highway 98 in Emerson.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindEmerson-Trees were blown down on Highway 79 South in Emerson.
April 2012Thunderstorm WindEmerson-Numerous trees and powerlines were downed across the county.
January 2010Flash FloodEmerson-Flooding was reported across numerous roadways southeast of Emerson, Arkansas.
October 2009Tornado (EF0)Emerson-An EF0 tornado touched down near the town of Emerson, Arkansas near the intersection of Hwy. 79 and CR. 26. After the initial touchdown, the tornado crossed Hwy. 79 and moved north northeast. Sporadic tree damage associated with this tornado was observed just east of Hwy. 79 up to just north of Hwy. 98. Winds were estimated at 75 to 85 mph.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindEmerson-Trees down on Hwy. 19.
September 2006Thunderstorm WindEmerson-Trees downed across County Road 8 in the west side of town.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindEmerson-Trees downed across County Rd. 8 near Brister.
December 2002Flash FloodEmerson-Highway 79 closed due to flash flooding. Several other roads in the region were also closed due to high waters.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindEmerson-Numerous trees down across the area.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindEmerson-Numerous trees down.
June 1997FloodEmerson-Several roads were underwater in town.
April 2009HailEmerson-no account filed
April 2003HailEmerson-no account filed
May 2003HailEmerson-no account filed
December 2002HailEmerson-no account filed
March 2001HailEmerson-no account filed
April 2001HailEmerson-no account filed
April 2001HailEmerson-no account filed
May 2001HailEmerson-no account filed
January 1998Thunderstorm WindEmerson-no account filed
March 1998HailEmerson-no account filed
March 1997HailEmerson-no account filed
May 1994HailEmerson-no account filed
March 1993HailEmerson-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Columbia 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
Mohawk2.1 miles13
Brister3.0 miles13
Horsehead3.8 miles14
Forest Grove4.1 miles13
Noxobe5.7 miles12
Kerlin6.2 miles13
Walkerville6.4 miles14
Plainfield7.5 miles14

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 EmersonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2652915The 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 48887. 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.