BlockBefore

Lester, Arkansas

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1989. It stands in River Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71726. It stands on Bragg Mill Creek. The Survey maps it on the Bragg City quadrangle.

Lester within Ouachita County

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 15 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

105 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 105 fires within 5 miles of Lester between 1997 and 2020, burning about 649 acres in total. 10 started naturally. 34 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/incendiarism34
Debris and open burning29
Missing data/not specified/undetermined24
Natural10
Equipment and vehicle use6
Recreation and ceremony1
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
6 September 2015Debris and open burning5.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
3 September 2002Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 2000Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 2011Arson/incendiarism6.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 2005Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
11 September 2011Natural65 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
10 September 2011Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Ouachita County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Lester: 6 past producers, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Iron, Quartz, Sulfur, Phosphorus-Phosphates. 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
Jackson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkQuartz, Iron, Sulfur, Phosphorus-PhosphatesUnknown
Aggie Mccree PropertyIronPast Producer
No NameClayPast Producer
No NameClayPast Producer
T.I.Brown PropertyIronPast Producer
unnamedClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Ouachita County

Storms near this place

8 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lester in 8 storm reports between 2000 and 2023: 3 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 tornado. 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
October 2009Tornado (EF2)Lester$200,000The tornado caused a massive tree blowdown soon after touching down. It then passed west of Velie and near Amy. One house had part of one wall and a portion of its roof torn off, part of the roof was torn off a mobile home, another mobile home was blown off its foundation, and several outbuildings were damaged. The tornado exited Ouachita County about 3 1/3 miles east-northeast of Smead and continued into Dallas County about 3 2/3 miles west-southwest of Holly Springs.
August 2014Flash FloodLester$50,000Street flooding occurred in Camden. At times between 8 and 9 AM CDT, heavy rain reduced the visibility at the Camden airport to less than 1/4 mile.
May 2009Flash FloodLester$40,000Portions of Arkansas Highway 7 north of Camden were barricaded for a period of time due to high water. Also, county roads 88, 223, 234, 96, and 11 were flooded.
May 2009Flash FloodLester$20,000Flooding occurred on many county roads.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindLester$1,000A tree was blown down on Arkansas Highway 24.
April 2023FloodLester-Heavy rain brought flooding to the Ouachita River at Camden.
April 2004HailLester-no account filed
May 2000Thunderstorm WindLester-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ouachita 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
Wise (historical)1.0 miles15
Lester Junction1.7 miles15
Bragg City3.7 miles15
Van Wagoner (historical)4.2 miles15
Kent5.9 miles15
Velie6.3 miles15
Camden6.3 miles17
Chidester6.5 miles16

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 58060. 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.