Drifton, Florida
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the Monticello census division. It lies in ZIP code area 32344. It stands on Drifton Branch. The Survey maps it on the Waukeenah quadrangle.
Then and now
1954 to 1979The same ground, surveyed 25 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 9 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 Valdosta quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Waukeenah quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Valdosta quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Valdosta quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Perry quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
136 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 136 fires within 5 miles of Drifton between 1992 and 2020, burning about 614 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 45 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 39 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 14 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 3 September 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 28 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 24 September 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 10 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | (33) TEXACO FIRE |
| 1 September 1995 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 29 August 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 5.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 17 July 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
15 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Drifton in 15 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 14 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | $10,000 | There were numerous downed trees and a barn damaged just north of Interstate 10 near Drifton. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | $2,000 | A tree fell and hit a power pole at 3396 Thompson Valley Rd. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | $1,000 | Debris was reported on Waukeenah Highway along with a tree down across Aucilla Highway. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | $1,000 | Jefferson county S.O. reported two large trees down at intersection of W Lake Rd and Drifton Highway. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | $500 | A tree was blown down near Turkey Scratch Road. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | - | The Florida Highway Patrol reported a downed tree on I-10 eastbound near Mile Marker 228. |
| January 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | - | A tree was blown down onto Curtis Mill Road. |
| February 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Drifton | - | A brief tornado touched down along I-10 just west of U.S. Highway 319 damaging trees along either side of the interstate. The tornado appears to have been short-lived with a survey team finding no additional damage on surrounding roads. A tornadic debris signature was briefly evident on KTLH radar. The tornado was rated EF0 with peak winds estimated at 80 mph. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | - | A tree was blown down near Campground Road. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | - | A tree was blown down and blocking the road at 2271 Thompson Valley Road. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | - | A tree was blown down and blocked Thompson Valley Road between Highway 19 and Curtis Mills Road. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | - | A tree was blown down along Thompson Valley Road and Curtis Mill. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | - | A tree was blown down at the railroad crossing at Curtis Mill. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | - | A tree was blown down on I-10 near Mile Marker 227. |
| May 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Drifton | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casa Blanco | 1.5 miles | 7 | |
| Hatchcakamocha (historical) | 2.3 miles | 9 | |
| Lois | 2.9 miles | 7 | |
| Nash | 2.9 miles | 9 | |
| Monticello | 3.5 miles | 7 | |
| Montivilla | 3.6 miles | 7 | |
| Capps | 6.1 miles | 9 | |
| Aucilla | 6.7 miles | 9 |
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 Drifton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5307489 | 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 281765. 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.
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.




