Willisville, Arkansas
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Taylor Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71864. The Survey maps it on the Willisville quadrangle. 148 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 361 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresWillisville fell from 188 to 148 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 | 188 | |
| 2010 | 152 | -36 (-19%) |
| 2020 | 148 | -4 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 15 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.
- 1901 USGS Gurdon quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 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
- 1973 USGS Willisville quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Hope quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
89 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 89 fires within 5 miles of Willisville between 1997 and 2020, burning about 715 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 17 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 | 35 |
| Debris and open burning | 21 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 17 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Natural | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | 36 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 3 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 25 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 24 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 13 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 13 September 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Willisville: 4 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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
20 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Willisville in 20 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 12 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. The reports record 1 injury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | Tornado (EF2) | Willisville | 1 hurt, $100,000 | During the early morning hours on March 7th, a severe thunderstorm produced an EF2 tornado with estimated maximum winds of 125 mph just west of Willisville in Southern Nevada County, Arkansas. This storm also had a history of producing an earlier tornado in East Texas. The first sign of damage from the tornado was seen just south of the intersection of Highway 32 and County Road 9 near a large open field. The tornado brought down multiple large trees before heading northeast through the large open field. On the far northeast corner of the field is where tree damage picked up again, before tracking across Highway 32 just to the west of County Road 17. The more significant damage was found near County Road 122, County Road 17, and County Road 1702, where numerous structures sustained damage. A single wide mobile home was lifted off the rooted foundation and tossed around 100 feet before landing and being completely destroyed. There was one occupant in the residence who walked away from the incident with only minor injuries. It was at this location that the tornado was rated an EF2 with maximum winds of 125 mph. The tornado then went through another grove of trees before crossing County Road 17 just north of County Road 1702 where it destroyed a small garage/storage unit. Damage from this unit was scattered all throughout an open field all the way to County Road 124. It also brought down a number of very large trees as it crossed the road. As the tornado crossed over County Road 124, it appeared to have started to lift, as damage was more sporadic in a wide open field. The adjacent tree line at the end of the field along the path of the tornado had a few trees down, but there was no clear indication that the tornado remained on the ground beyond this point. |
| June 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Willisville | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew trees down and damaged a chicken house. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Willisville | $40,000 | A tree fell on top of a house approximately 4 miles south of Rosston, Arkansas on U.S. Hwy 371. |
| September 1996 | Tornado (F1) | Willisville | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Willisville | $500 | Thunderstorm winds downed some tree limbs. |
| April 2019 | Hail | Willisville | - | Penny size hail fell in the Willisville community. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Willisville | - | Several trees were blown down blocking several roads in Southern Nevada County. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Willisville | - | Several trees were downed in Willisville, Arkansas. |
| February 2013 | Hail | Willisville | - | Hail fell in Willisville, Arkansas. |
| March 2008 | Funnel Cloud | Willisville | - | Funnel cloud reported between the communities of Willisville and Bodcaw, Arkansas. |
| April 2004 | Hail | Willisville | - | Hail covered the ground along Hwy 32. |
| May 2003 | Hail | Willisville | - | Numerous car windows were broken. |
| January 1998 | Hail | Willisville | - | 50 mph winds also reported. |
| February 1995 | Hail | Willisville | - | Dime-sized hail covered the ground. |
| May 1994 | Hail | Willisville | - | A funnel cloud was sighted at Waterloo. |
| April 1994 | Hail | Willisville | - | Thunderstorm winds downed many trees. |
| March 2008 | Hail | Willisville | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Willisville | - | no account filed |
| January 1999 | Hail | Willisville | - | no account filed |
| April 1994 | Hail | Willisville | - | 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.
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 Willisville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2580619 | 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 56411. 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.







