BlockBefore

Oark, Arkansas

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Batson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72852. It stands on Bull Creek. The Survey maps it on the Oark quadrangle. 43 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,017 feet above sea level.

Oark within Johnson County

On record in Oark

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 2 records

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 10 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

37 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 37 fires within 5 miles of Oark between 1992 and 2020, burning about 374 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 9 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 burning11
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Arson/incendiarism9
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Fireworks1
Natural1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Recreation and ceremony1

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
19 September 2004Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
3 June 2005Debris and open burning5.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
21 June 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
22 May 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acreOzark-St. Francis National ForestsSINCLAIR #3
7 April 2006Debris and open burning6.2 acresOzark-St. Francis National ForestsYALE
4 April 2006Arson/incendiarism40 acresOzark-St. Francis National ForestsWATERFALL
20 April 1997Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreOzark-St. Francis National ForestsMILE 68
15 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Johnson County

Storms near this place

30 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oark in 30 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 13 hail, 8 flash flood, 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood. The reports record 1 death. 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 1997Flash FloodOark1 killedHeavy rains caused flash flooding across parts of Johnson County. A vehicle driving across a low-water bridge was swept off the bridge by the high water. The driver of the vehicle drowned.
October 2009Flash FloodOark$2,000,000Flooding on Spadra Creek and Horsehead Creek caused roads to be flooded and culverts washed out. Numerous streets were flooded in Clarksville, as was U.S. Highway 64 around Hartman and Coal Hill. Around 9:20 PM CDT, a washout on a railroad track caused a train derailment in the Coal Hill Bottoms, south of Coal Hill. Nineteen hopper cars carrying soybeans were derailed, spilling the beans and tearing up a section of track. Mudslides occurred on Interstate 40 southwest of Hunt, on Arkansas Highway 103 in the Batson Mountain vicinity, and on a road north of Catalpa. Eight houses were flooded in the western part of the county. Cattle had to be rescued from flooding at the Dirty Creek Bridge on Arkansas Highway 164. Numerous county roads were flooded in the area west of Arkansas Highway 21. Several water rescues were necessary.
April 2011FloodOark$250,000Widespread areal flooding occurred.
May 2011FloodOark$250,000no account filed
May 2010Thunderstorm WindOark$5,000A few trees were blown down in the Oark area.
November 1993Thunderstorm WindOark$5,000Some trees were blown down.
August 2025Flash FloodOark-Water reported over the roadway in several locations along Arkansas Highway 103.
August 2025Flash FloodOark-Water was reported over the roadway in several locations along Arkansas Highway 103.
September 2025Flash FloodOark-Flood waters approached the school in the town of Oark.
September 2025Flash FloodOark-The rock wall around the outside of the school in the town of Oark was pushed over by flood waters. The flood waters then entered the gym within the school causing an unknown amount of damage.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindOark-Law Enforcement reported several trees and powerlines down throughout the western half of Johnson County.
September 2006Thunderstorm WindOark-Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindOark-Trees down.
June 2012HailOark-no account filed
December 2010HailOark-no account filed
April 2008HailOark-no account filed
April 2008HailOark-no account filed
March 2008HailOark-no account filed
April 2004HailOark-no account filed
July 2003HailOark-no account filed
May 2003HailOark-no account filed
April 2000HailOark-no account filed
May 2000HailOark-no account filed
June 2000Flash FloodOark-no account filed
June 1999Flash FloodOark-no account filed
May 1999HailOark-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindOark-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindOark-no account filed
October 1993HailOark-no account filed
November 1993HailOark-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Johnson 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
Catalpa2.4 miles10
Friley4.0 miles10
Yale4.3 miles10
Dale (historical)5.2 miles10
Batson6.1 miles10
Farris Springs6.5 miles13
Linville (historical)7.5 miles10
Ozone7.6 miles13

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 OarkAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7074372The 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 77893. 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.