BlockBefore

Bell, Florida

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Bell census division. It lies in ZIP code area 32619. The Survey maps it on the Bell quadrangle. 518 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 69 feet above sea level.

Bell within Gilchrist County

Then and now

1954 to 1981

The same ground, surveyed 27 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Bell, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Bell, surveyed 1954

On record in Bell

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

3 figures

Bell grew from 349 to 518 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.

YearPeople Change
2000349
2010456+107 (+31%)
2020518+62 (+14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 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

176 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 176 fires within 5 miles of Bell between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,793 acres in total. 23 started naturally. 8 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
Railroad operations and maintenance54
Debris and open burning43
Missing data/not specified/undetermined26
Natural23
Equipment and vehicle use12
Arson/incendiarism8
Smoking2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Recreation and ceremony2
Other causes1
Fireworks1

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 2010Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresFlorida Forest Service2010-08-0520 FEATHER BUNCHER
7 September 2010Arson/incendiarism10 acresFlorida Forest ServiceGILCHRIST/LOST WORLD FIRE
30 September 1995Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
28 September 2006Debris and open burningunder an acreFlorida Forest ServiceGILCHRIST -- WIREGRASS FIRE
14 September 2005Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreFlorida Forest ServiceBALER 2 FIRE/ GILCHRIST
30 August 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreFlorida Forest Service2009-08-0604GILCHRIST
29 August 2007Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreFlorida Forest ServiceGILCHRIST/RAYONIER FIRE
28 August 2007Natural6.0 acresFlorida Forest ServiceAIRPLANE 1

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Gilchrist County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Bell: 5 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Robert's Roy Field QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed Limestone PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Gilchrist County

Storms near this place

42 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bell in 42 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 23 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 5 heavy rain, 2 lightning. The reports record 2 injuries. 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
December 1996Thunderstorm WindBell2 hurt, $12,000no account filed
March 2018Thunderstorm WindBell$15,000Multiple barns were damaged and one was completely destroyed. The time of damage was based on radar. The cost of damage was unknown, but it was estimated so the event could be included in Storm Data.
September 1999Thunderstorm WindBell$15,000Large trees were blown down. One tree damaged a car traveling on West 32nd Street.
March 1998Thunderstorm WindBell$5,000Roof Damage
August 1999Thunderstorm WindBell$1,500Large trees and power lines were blown down.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBell$1,500Large trees were blown down.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindBell$500A tree was blown down near 6209 NW 50th Terrace. The cost of damage was estimated for the event to be included in Storm Data.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindBell$500Large trees were blown down.
June 2017FloodBell$10The roadway at U.S. Highway 129 and County Road 232 East was underwater. The is no known property damage, but a small dollar value was added so this report would be included in Storm Data.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindBell-Trees and power lines were blown down across the NW portion of the county. The time of damage was based on radar data.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindBell-Power lines were blown down at County Road 340 and NW 55th Street.
August 2022Heavy RainBell-A public weather station near Hatchben (KFLBRANF17) measured 3.72 inches of rainfall from about 3:30 pm local time to 6:40 pm local time.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindBell-Trees and power lines were blown down from thunderstorm winds about 3 miles north of Bell.
April 2019Thunderstorm WindBell-Trees and power lines were blown down across the county.
June 2019Heavy RainBell-The Gilchrist County EOC rain gauge measured 2.79 inches of rainfall in 2 hours.
June 2019Heavy RainBell-The WeatherStem station at the Gilchrist County EOC measured a daily total of 2.02 inches.
July 2019Heavy RainBell-An observer near Bell measured 2.28 inches of rainfall within the past 6 hrs.
August 2017Heavy RainBell-Minor street flooding was reported near NW 25th Street near Bell.
September 2017Funnel CloudBell-The Florida Fish and Wildlife reported a funnel cloud east of the Suwanee River south of the County Road 340 bridge.
February 2016Thunderstorm WindBell-Florida Forest Service reported 2 trees down in the Bell area. One was off of SW 10th Street. The time of damage was based on radar.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindBell-Trees were blown down along Highway 129 in Bell. The time of the event was based on radar imagery.
April 2011HailBell-Nickel to dime size hail was reported 2 miles south of CR 340.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindBell-Large tree limbs were blown down. The time of the event was based on radar.
June 2008HailBell-Golf ball size hail was reported about 1 mile south of Bell. The hail lasted about 10 minutes. Strong wind gusts were also observed.
June 2008HailBell-The Cooperative Law Enforcement Station in Bell reported nickel size hail.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindBell-Trees were blown down in Bell.
March 2008Thunderstorm WindBell-Four trees were blown down. Public reported a possible tornado on their property at 5401 NW 22nd Court in Bell. Event time estimated based on radar imagery.
August 2007HailBell-The Bell post office reported dime to nickel size hail.
January 2006HailBell-Hail broke seal on screen room enclosure/addition to a house.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindBell-Large trees and power lines down on County Road 232. Power outages reported.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindBell-Large trees and power lines down.
November 2002Thunderstorm WindBell-2 treess down with scattered power outages.
May 1995Thunderstorm WindBell-Large trees uprooted west of SR 37.
May 2014Funnel CloudBell-no account filed
May 2006LightningBell-no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBell-no account filed
July 2006LightningBell-no account filed
July 2006HailBell-no account filed
May 2001HailBell-no account filed
May 2000HailBell-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBell-no account filed
June 1998HailBell-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Gilchrist 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
Mutual1.8 miles9
Harvard1.9 miles10
Curtis2.3 miles11
Williford4.3 miles10
Wannee4.9 miles11
Little Lake City5.1 miles10
Craggs6.6 miles10
Waters Lake7.6 miles10

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 BellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q815676The 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 278410. 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.