Norphlet, Arkansas
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Norphlet Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71730. The Survey maps it on the Smackover quadrangle. 766 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 180 feet above sea level.
On record in Norphlet
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
J.T. Murphy No 1 Craterlisted 2008
Population over time
3 figuresNorphlet fell from 822 to 766 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 | 822 | |
| 2010 | 844 | +22 (+3%) |
| 2020 | 766 | -78 (-9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 17 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.
- 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
- 1962 USGS Smackover quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1964 USGS Smackover quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
155 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 155 fires within 5 miles of Norphlet between 1997 and 2019, burning about 1,069 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 21 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/undetermined | 70 |
| Debris and open burning | 31 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 21 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 14 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 7 |
| Natural | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 28 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 19 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 19 September 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Norphlet: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Bromine, 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.
Storms near this place
12 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Norphlet in 12 storm reports between 2009 and 2023: 4 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2011 | Tornado (EF1) | Norphlet | $150,000 | The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey in Union County Arkansas and concluded that storm damage was the result of an EF1 tornado. The tornado touched down at around 10:12 AM, in the town of Norphlet. An old gas station cover was blown down and several trees were snapped along Black street eastward across Hayes St. Some minor roof damage occurred to homes along Hayes street. The tornado continued eastward crossing N Tate Road where a carport collapsed on a vehicle and several trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado continued along the south side of Tate Road snapping trees and peeling shingles from several homes. The tornado lifted east of a pasture where several hardwood and softwood trees were snapped or uprooted. A small metal outbuilding suffered structural damage as well. Maximum winds are estimated at 90-100 mph. |
| January 2023 | Tornado (EF1) | Norphlet | $25,000 | An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 105 mph touched down about 3 miles southwest of Norphlet, just southwest of the intersection of Murphy Loop and Shady Grove Road. The tornado tracked northeast over the span of approximately one minute, snapping and uprooting several hardwood and softwood trees and causing minor damage to structures resulting mainly from the impacts of the fallen trees. The damage path ended just to the southeast of the intersection of Shady Grove Road, Murphy Loop, and Burchfield Road. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Norphlet | - | Large tree limbs and power lines were downed across Highway 335 in the Norphlet community. |
| July 2022 | Heavy Rain | Norphlet | - | A personal rain gauge in Norphlet measured a storm total rainfall of 9.12 inches. |
| July 2022 | Flash Flood | Norphlet | - | Multiple pictures were posted to social media of portions of the 300-400 block of North Tate Street and the 500-600 block of East Padgett Street in Norphlet were washed out. A personal electronic rain gauge in Norphlet measured 9.12 inches of rain from this event. |
| July 2022 | Flash Flood | Norphlet | - | High water entered multiple buildings on West Hillsboro Street in El Dorado. Numerous roads were flooded throughout the city. |
| April 2019 | Flash Flood | Norphlet | - | A video posted to Facebook indicated that multiple roads were flooded in El Dorado. |
| April 2019 | Flash Flood | Norphlet | - | Numerous streets were flooded across El Dorado. Report via social media. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Norphlet | - | Trees were downed in Norphlet and along Hwy. 7 near Seven Brothers Road. |
| May 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Norphlet | - | A large tree was blown down across Mount Holly Road near the intersection of Hwy. 335. |
| May 2009 | Flood | Norphlet | - | Major flooding developed on the Ouachita River in southern Arkansas with stages comparable to those of March of 2001. Felsenthal Lock and Dam crested at a pool stage of 84.3 feet during May 23rd, the fifth highest crest of record. Downstream on the Ouachita River, moderate flooding developed at Monroe, Louisiana with a crest comparable to that of March of 2001. One event to note that during the morning hours of May 24th, two levee breaches developed near the Louisiana - Arkansas state line at the Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. Stages receded dramatically some eight inches in some eight hours from Felsenthal, Arkansas downstream through Sterlington, Louisiana. The Ouachita River flooding required considerable relocation of livestock and cut off some homes near the Wildlife Refuge and near Monroe, Louisiana. Roads that had to be closed included Hamilton Lake, Moon Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Old Wall Lake Road, Bayou D'Arbonne Drive, Kent Drive, Jones Road, Browder Road, Philpot Road and Kins Lake Road/Austin Bend. Overall...the flooding in May across all of southern and southwest Arkansas will be remembered by many. The governer of the state included 5 southern Arkansas counties a disaster area which would allow these counties to receive money from the Federal Government. These counties included Little River, Hempstead, Miller, Lafayette, and Union counties. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Norphlet | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Land | 2.4 miles | 17 | |
| Kenova | 3.4 miles | 17 | |
| Quinn | 3.5 miles | 15 | |
| Herma | 4.4 miles | 15 | |
| Smackover | 4.7 miles | 17 | |
| Nugulf | 4.9 miles | 19 | |
| Dumas City | 6.3 miles | 16 | |
| Calion | 6.7 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 Norphlet | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q79500 | 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 58272. 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.







