BlockBefore

Thornton, Arkansas

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Township 1. It lies in ZIP code area 71766. The Survey maps it on the Fordyce quadrangle. 339 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 318 feet above sea level.

Thornton within Calhoun County

On record in Thornton

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

Population over time

2 figures

Thornton fell from 407 to 339 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
2010407
2020339-68 (-17%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 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

64 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 64 fires within 5 miles of Thornton between 1998 and 2020, burning about 488 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 6 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/undetermined21
Debris and open burning19
Equipment and vehicle use8
Natural6
Arson/incendiarism6
Railroad operations and maintenance2
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
7 September 1998Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2005Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
28 September 2015Natural2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 2010Arson/incendiarism7.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
16 September 2015Debris and open burning4.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
8 August 2011Natural5.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
7 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
7 August 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Calhoun County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Thornton: 10 unknowns. 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, ConstructionUnknown
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Unknown Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Unknown Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Unknown Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Unknown Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Unknown Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Unknown Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Calhoun County

Storms near this place

34 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Thornton in 34 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 13 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 5 flood, 4 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
May 2011FloodThornton$500,000Flooding in Calhoun County continued into June.
December 2009FloodThornton$250,000Flash flooding, which developed on the morning of the 24th, became widespread areal flooding later on the 24th and continued into Christmas morning.
December 2009Flash FloodThornton$250,000Widespread heavy rain resulted in flash flooding on the 24th.
April 2008Thunderstorm WindThornton$250,000Trees and power lines were blown down, and there was structural damage to homes.
October 2009Flash FloodThornton$200,000Numerous county roads were damaged by flash flooding.
March 2012FloodThornton$100,000Numerous county roads were flooded, as were sections of Arkansas 274 near Tinsman and Arkansas 203 near Hampton. The county judge declared a disaster due to the flooding.
April 2011FloodThornton$100,000Widespread areal flooding occurred.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindThornton$20,000Trees and power lines were blown down in Thornton.
October 2009Thunderstorm WindThornton$10,000Numerous trees were down.
March 2023Thunderstorm WindThornton$5,000Minor roof damage was reported along with trees down along Hwy. 167 south of Thornton.
October 2014Thunderstorm WindThornton$2,000A tree was blown down onto U.S. 167.
July 2022HailThornton-One inch hail was reported in Thornton. The time was estimated from radar.
July 2022HailThornton-Large hail was reported in Thornton. The time was estimated from radar. Corrected.
May 2021HailThornton-Quarter to golf ball size hail was reported south of Thornton on social media.
October 2009FloodThornton-Flash flooding which began on the 29th became widespread areal flooding on the 30th. Flooding on Woodberry Road prevented the school bus from taking students to Hampton.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindThornton-A large tree was blown down onto a power line, which then fell onto a house. No damage was reported to the structure.
November 2005Thunderstorm WindThornton-Thunderstorm winds downed some trees and caused minor damage to two houses.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindThornton-Thunderstorm winds blew down a few trees along Highway 167 at Thornton.
June 2003Flash FloodThornton-Minor street flooding was reported in Thornton.
June 2003Flash FloodThornton-Heavy rains flooded several roads in and around Thornton.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindThornton-Some large limbs and a few small trees were blown down.
November 1995Thunderstorm WindThornton-Some large tree limbs were knocked down.
June 2004HailThornton-no account filed
May 2003HailThornton-no account filed
May 2002HailThornton-no account filed
March 2001HailThornton-no account filed
May 2001HailThornton-no account filed
February 2000HailThornton-no account filed
March 2000Thunderstorm WindThornton-no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindThornton-no account filed
May 1999HailThornton-no account filed
July 1998Thunderstorm WindThornton-no account filed
April 1996HailThornton-no account filed
April 1996HailThornton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Calhoun 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
Little Bay2.4 miles16
Hopeville3.6 miles16
Chambersville3.9 miles12
Green Hall (historical)4.1 miles12
Harlow4.5 miles16
Ebenezer5.3 miles12
Elberta (historical)6.0 miles12
Lindale (historical)7.7 miles12

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 ThorntonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q79486The 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 55554. 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.