BlockBefore

Gurdon, Arkansas

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Caddo Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71743. It stands on Coffee Creek. The Survey maps it on the Gurdon quadrangle. 1,840 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 203 feet above sea level.

Gurdon within Clark County

On record in Gurdon

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 6 records

Population over time

2 figures

Gurdon fell from 2,212 to 1,840 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
20102,212
20201,840-372 (-17%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 16 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

142 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 142 fires within 5 miles of Gurdon between 1997 and 2020, burning about 2,590 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 23 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
Railroad operations and maintenance45
Debris and open burning23
Arson/incendiarism23
Equipment and vehicle use22
Missing data/not specified/undetermined18
Natural7
Recreation and ceremony2
Smoking1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
5 September 2005Debris and open burning15 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 2003Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 2002Equipment and vehicle use7.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined177 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 1999Debris and open burning5.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 2003Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
17 September 2004Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clark County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Gurdon: 5 past producers. 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
Hardin Lavenrne S & GSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Mine Creek PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
R MorrisSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Rickets Trucking Co PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Smith & Houston PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Clark County

Storms near this place

51 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gurdon in 51 storm reports between 1993 and 2022: 28 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 9 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
August 2012Thunderstorm WindGurdon$100,000Large oak trees were snapped and uprooted. Shingles were removed from several structures and tin roofing was ripped off and thrown 500 feet. Power lines and power poles were knocked down. Several trees fell into an electric substation, knocking out power to most of the Gurdon area. A tractor-trailer truck was blown off the road.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindGurdon$100,000Trees and power lines were blown down around Gurdon. One tree fell on a house. Arkansas Highway 53 and U.S. Highway 67 were blocked by fallen trees, as were a number of county roads.
October 2014Thunderstorm WindGurdon$50,000A tree was blown down onto a house. Numerous trees were blown down around Clark County, with trees falling onto U.S. 67 and Arkansas 51 and 53.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindGurdon$50,000Thunderstorm winds downed a number of trees.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindGurdon$25,000A severe storm struck Gurdon for the second day in a row, knocking out power once again. Trees and power lines were blown down. One tree fell on U.S. 67 just north of Gurdon while another fell a couple of miles north of town, taking down power, phone, and cable lines. A plate glass window was blown out of a store downtown.
April 2014Thunderstorm WindGurdon$5,000Trees were blown down.
October 2009Thunderstorm WindGurdon$5,000Several trees were knocked down.
April 2011Flash FloodGurdon$1,000The railroad underpass in Gurdon was flooded.
May 2009Thunderstorm WindGurdon$1,000A tree was down on Cherry Street.
May 2022Flash FloodGurdon-Local fire department performed a water rescue from a vehicle stalled in high water.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindGurdon-Updated...A tree was blown down over Hwy 53 just south of Gurdon and caused an accident involving a log truck rollover.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindGurdon-Trees were blown down just northwest of Gurdon.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindGurdon-Trees were blown down by strong winds.
March 2021HailGurdon-Quarter inch hail was noted in Gurdon.
March 2021HailGurdon-Baseball sized hail resulted in broken windows in Gurdon.
October 2019Flash FloodGurdon-Flash flooding was reported near the Amtrak Depot.
May 2017Flash FloodGurdon-Flash flooding was reported along Highway 53 in Gurdon.
December 2017Flash FloodGurdon-Water was over roads.
April 2011HailGurdon-Hail from quarter to golf ball size fell.
May 2006HailGurdon-Hail up to golfball size broke out the windshield of a vehicle.
July 2006Flash FloodGurdon-State highway 53 was impassible due to high water levels.
November 2004Flash FloodGurdon-Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding in Gurdon. Several city streets were covered by high water for a few hours.
August 2003Thunderstorm WindGurdon-Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindGurdon-Thunderstorm winds knocked down some power lines in Gurdon.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindGurdon-Thunderstorm winds downed some large tree limbs.
November 2001Thunderstorm WindGurdon-Thunderstorm winds damaged several buildings in downtown Gurdon. The portion of a gas station canopy was blown off and the brick face of a local supermarket also sustained damage. Six cars that were parked at the supermarket were damaged when parts of the brick face came down off the building.
September 1997Thunderstorm WindGurdon-Thunderstorm winds blew down some large tree limbs.
March 2021HailGurdon-no account filed
March 2011HailGurdon-no account filed
March 2010HailGurdon-no account filed
May 2009HailGurdon-no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
September 2005Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
August 2003Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
June 2003Flash FloodGurdon-no account filed
June 2003Flash FloodGurdon-no account filed
May 2003HailGurdon-no account filed
May 2001HailGurdon-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
May 2001HailGurdon-no account filed
May 2000Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
January 1999Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
May 1999Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
April 1999Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
December 1999Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindGurdon-no account filed
April 1996HailGurdon-no account filed
April 1995HailGurdon-no account filed
March 1993HailGurdon-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Clark 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
Smithton (historical)2.0 miles16
Smithton2.0 miles16
Beirne3.5 miles16
Keyton (historical)4.9 miles16
Red Springs4.9 miles17
Barringer5.1 miles17
Sycamore5.4 miles17
Curtis5.9 miles17

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 GurdonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79662The 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 49742. 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.