Ruth, Arkansas
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Big Creek Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72531. The Survey maps it on the Norfork Dam North quadrangle. It stands 797 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 18 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.
- 1890 USGS Mountain Home quadrangle1:125000
- 1891 USGS Mountain Home quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Mountain Home quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1945 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Norfork Dam North quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1979 USGS Norfork Dam North quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Bull Shoals Lake quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Harrison quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
83 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 83 fires within 5 miles of Ruth between 1997 and 2020, burning about 1,314 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 31 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/incendiarism | 31 |
| Debris and open burning | 29 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 August 2012 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 26 August 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 22 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 11 August 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 9 July 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 July 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 1 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Ruth: 1 unknown, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highway 87 Pit & Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unk | Stone | Unknown |
Storms near this place
2 since 2020Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ruth in 2 storm reports between 2020 and 2024: 1 thunderstorm wind, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Ruth | - | The Briarcliff Tornado kept moving northeast into Fulton County from Baxter County, decreasing in width, and moved primarily over rural areas, causing only tree|damage, and eventually dissipating just west of Elizabeth Road|near Center Point Loop. This tornado tracked across three counties was rated an EF3 with|maximum estimated wind speeds of 140 mph. |
| March 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ruth | - | Trees were blown over 8 miles west of Viola. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gepp | 2.1 miles | 16 | |
| Elizabeth | 3.4 miles | 16 | |
| Argosy (historical) | 3.4 miles | 16 | |
| Vidette | 4.1 miles | 16 | |
| Pickren Hall | 5.9 miles | 16 | |
| Mitchell | 7.3 miles | 16 | |
| County Line | 8.1 miles | 18 | |
| Viola | 8.3 miles | 11 |
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 Ruth | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q21197715 | 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 58562. 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.











