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Stephens, Arkansas

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Smackover Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71764. The Survey maps it on the Stephens quadrangle. 770 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 249 feet above sea level.

Stephens within Ouachita County

On record in Stephens

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 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Stephens fell from 891 to 770 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.

YearPeople Change
2010891
2020770-121 (-14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 14 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

181 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 181 fires within 5 miles of Stephens between 1997 and 2020, burning about 1,335 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 73 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/incendiarism73
Missing data/not specified/undetermined60
Debris and open burning22
Equipment and vehicle use11
Natural8
Railroad operations and maintenance5
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Smoking1

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
8 September 2011Debris and open burning6.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2011Debris and open burning3.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2005Arson/incendiarism80 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
30 September 2002Arson/incendiarism20 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2002Arson/incendiarism10 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
25 September 1999Misuse of fire by a minor2.0 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

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Stephens: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Ouachita County

Storms near this place

21 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Stephens in 21 storm reports between 1993 and 2019: 15 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2014Thunderstorm WindStephens$20,000The brick storefront on an old, unoccupied store collapsed. Chert St. was closed due to bricks in the road.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindStephens$5,000Trees were blown down at Stephens.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindStephens$5,000Some trees were blown down.
September 2008Flash FloodStephens$4,000Arkansas Highway 7 near Section 4A was closed due to high water.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindStephens-Numerous trees were down in the area.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindStephens-Trees were blown down on U.S. Highway 79 south near Stephens.
November 2004Tornado (F1)Stephens-A weak tornado touched down north of Stephens and moved to the northeast about 6 miles before lifting. Most of the damage along the path of the tornado consisted of hundreds of downed trees. Several power poles were also broken off.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindStephens-Trees were knocked down along U.S. Highway 278.
December 2002Tornado (F0)Stephens-A weak tornado (F0) touched down east of Stephens and tracked to the northeast for 5.7 miles before lifting. Damage along the path of the tornado consisted of a large tree blown down, with the tree knocking down a power pole. A number of trees were also downed in a nearby oil field.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindStephens-Thunderstorm winds knocked down some power lines and poles.
May 1997Thunderstorm WindStephens-Thunderstorm winds knocked down some trees.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindStephens-no account filed
May 2003HailStephens-no account filed
September 1999Thunderstorm WindStephens-no account filed
February 1999Thunderstorm WindStephens-no account filed
September 1999Thunderstorm WindStephens-no account filed
April 1999HailStephens-no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindStephens-no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindStephens-no account filed
April 1996HailStephens-no account filed
February 1996Thunderstorm WindStephens-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
Ogemaw4.3 miles14
Troy6.3 miles16
Spring Hill7.1 miles16
Buena Vista8.0 miles15
Pace City8.4 miles15
Lufra (historical)9.1 miles15
Liberty12.4 miles16
Elliott13.2 miles16

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 StephensAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79207The 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 55203. 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.