Chaires, Florida
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the East Leon census division. It lies in ZIP code area 32317. It stands on Hall Branch. The Survey maps it on the Lloyd quadrangle. 308 people lived here at the 2020 count.
Then and now
1954 to 1988The same ground, surveyed 34 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1954 against another survey:
On record in Chaires
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
Chaires Community Historic Districtlisted 2000
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 12 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.
- 1954 USGS Lloyd quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Tallahassee quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1959 USGS Tallahassee quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Tallahassee quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Tallahassee quadrangle1:100000
- 1982 USGS Lloyd quadrangle1:24000
- 1988 USGS Tallahassee quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
50 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 50 fires within 5 miles of Chaires between 1992 and 2019, burning about 232 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 1 was 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 maintenance | 16 |
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 September 2017 | Smoking | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | HOOT OWL LOOP (37) |
| 5 August 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 16 July 2000 | Debris and open burning | 22 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 13 July 1995 | Natural | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 27 June 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 2 June 2009 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | (37)TRAM COUNTY LINE FIRE |
| 18 June 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 17 June 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Chaires: 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leon Co Board of Comm. - Leon County #1 Mine | Clay | Unknown |
Storms near this place
14 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chaires in 14 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 8 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 flood, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chaires | $7,500 | Several trees and power lines were blown down. The monetary damage figure provided is a rough estimate. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chaires | $4,000 | Multiple trees were blown down. The monetary damage figure provided is a rough estimate. |
| October 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chaires | $1,000 | A few utility poles were down south of U.S. Highway 27 just west of Chaires Crossroads. |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chaires | $500 | Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chaires | $500 | Few trees were blown down. |
| April 2024 | Flood | Chaires | - | Leon County Emergency Management reported road closures along Capitola Road between Chaires Crossroad and Baum Road due to water covering roadways. This flooding was slow to recede and persisted for several days after the heavy rain ended. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chaires | - | A tree was blown down at Chaires Cross Road and Parkhill Road. |
| April 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chaires | - | A tree was blown down on Capitola Road at Benjamin Chaires Road. |
| February 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chaires | - | A tree was reported down at Chaires Crossroads. |
| April 2014 | Flash Flood | Chaires | - | The intersection of Buck Lake Road and Chaires Road is impassible due to flooding from heavy rain in a short period of time. |
| April 2009 | Flood | Chaires | - | High water covering Henry Moss Circle and Chaires Crossroad. |
| February 2006 | Hail | Chaires | - | Golfball size hail reported by a WTXL-TV meteorologist. |
| June 2002 | Hail | Chaires | - | Dime size hail fell on State Highway 20. Reported by the Leon County EMA. |
| May 1997 | Hail | Chaires | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capitola | 1.9 miles | 12 | |
| Gardner | 3.8 miles | 15 | |
| Homestead Ridge | 4.5 miles | 12 | |
| Black Creek | 5.2 miles | 12 | |
| Lafayette | 5.3 miles | 15 | |
| Wadesboro | 5.5 miles | 12 | |
| Perkins | 5.7 miles | 15 | |
| Baum | 5.7 miles | 12 |
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 Chaires | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5068070 | 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 280278. 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.






