Lafe, Arkansas
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Dalton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72436. It stands on Pigeon Roost Creek. The Survey maps it on the Lafe quadrangle. 418 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 318 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresLafe fell from 458 to 418 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 458 | |
| 2020 | 418 | -40 (-9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 14 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.
- 1940 USGS Gainesville quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Poplar Bluff quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Gainesville quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Poplar Bluff quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Gainesville quadrangle1:62500
- 1960 USGS Poplar Bluff quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Lafe quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Paragould quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
16 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Lafe between 1997 and 2014, burning about 165 acres in total. None 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 May 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 17 May 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 31 March 2010 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 31 March 2010 | Debris and open burning | 22 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 March 2014 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | GRE2267107 |
| 23 March 1997 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 23 March 1997 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | 35 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | GRE1979826 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Lafe: 7 unknowns, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradburn Property | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Sheppard Linke | Clay | Unknown | ||
| Unk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Unk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Unk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Unk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Unk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Unk | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
13 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lafe in 13 storm reports between 1999 and 2026: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | Tornado (EF1) | Lafe | $25,000 | The tornado touched down in a wooded area west of County Road 138 southwest of Lafe. Tree damage was noted as the tornado crossed County Road 138 with additional tree damage near County Road 151. The tornado continued northeast, causing minor roof damage to a residence near the intersection of Greene Roads 151 and 142. A small barn was also destroyed off Greene Road 142 near Highway 135. The tornado crossed Highway 135 and damaged a barn just south of Highway 34 E. This damage was consistent with a 90 mph EF1 tornado. The tornado lifted in a wooded area north of Highway 34 E. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lafe | $15,000 | A roof was torn off of a building two miles northwest of Lafe. |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lafe | $5,000 | The rear flank downdraft associated with the EF-1 tornado that struck Lafe, Arkansas uprooted trees and caused roof damage to a mobile home south of the tornado track. |
| September 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lafe | $5,000 | Numerous tree limbs down across Lafe. |
| May 2006 | Hail | Lafe | $3,000 | A windshield was broken from nickel size hail in Marmaduke. |
| October 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Lafe | $1,000 | The tornado touched down in northeast Greene county and traveled northeast. The tornado was filmed by a Jonesboro television station. The tornado produced little damage. |
| January 1999 | Tornado (F0) | Lafe | $1,000 | The tornado started to the east of Lafe and tracked northeast toward the northeast corner of Greene county. A few trees were knocked down. |
| January 2025 | Flash Flood | Lafe | - | Roadway completely flooded with water rushing over AR-34 near Lafe. |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lafe | - | Trees knocked down in Lafe. |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lafe | - | Straight line winds knocked down numerous trees and an awning in Lafe. |
| April 2010 | Hail | Lafe | - | Penny to nickel size hail fell north of Paragould. |
| April 2021 | Hail | Lafe | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Hail | Lafe | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillside (historical) | 1.4 miles | 14 | |
| Hooker | 1.6 miles | 14 | |
| Gainesville | 2.7 miles | 14 | |
| Stonewall | 3.4 miles | 14 | |
| Paris (historical) | 3.5 miles | 15 | |
| Oak Grove Heights | 5.8 miles | 15 | |
| Camp Ground | 5.9 miles | 15 | |
| Beech Grove | 6.0 miles | 14 |
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 Lafe | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2580725 | 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 77427. 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.







