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Lake Butler, Florida

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Lake Butler census division. It lies in ZIP code area 32054. The Survey maps it on the Lake Butler quadrangle. 1,986 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 135 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Lake Butler within Union 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 Lake Butler, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Lake Butler, surveyed 1954

On record in Lake Butler

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 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Lake Butler grew from 1,897 to 1,986 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
20101,897
20201,986+89 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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

166 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 166 fires within 5 miles of Lake Butler between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,865 acres in total. 36 started naturally. 9 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
Natural36
Equipment and vehicle use30
Debris and open burning29
Railroad operations and maintenance26
Missing data/not specified/undetermined14
Power generation/transmission/distribution10
Arson/incendiarism9
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Other causes1
Recreation and ceremony1
Smoking1

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
6 September 1993Railroad operations and maintenance2.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
4 September 2017Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreFlorida Forest Service186TH PLACE (63)
29 September 2002Equipment and vehicle use10 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
26 September 1999Equipment and vehicle use20 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
16 September 2013Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFlorida Forest ServiceSR 100 (63)
16 September 1996Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
9 August 2006Natural7.0 acresFlorida Forest Service03-63- 237 FIRE -1250
6 August 2007Natural1.0 acresFlorida Forest Service03-63-SINCLAIR BRYANT RD FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Union County

Storms near this place

37 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lake Butler in 37 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 22 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 4 heavy rain, 2 wildfire. 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
April 1997Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$8,000Large trees and power lines were blown down. One vehicle was also damaged.
August 1995Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$6,000Roof damage to home and numerous large trees were blown down.
January 1993Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$5,000Strong thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a house and downed trees and power lines.
November 1995Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$4,000Large tree limbs were blown down on 1st Street.
July 1996Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$3,500no account filed
September 2000Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$2,500Large trees and power lines were blown down.
January 2000Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$2,500Large trees and power lines were blown down.
February 2003Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$2,000Large trees down near state road 121 and county road 231.
March 2001Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$2,000Large trees and power lines were blown down.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$1,000Multiple trees were reported down across SW SR 121 especially at the intersections of SW 76th St and SW 92nd St. Powerlines were reported down in Lake Butler and a power pole was leaning along SW 7th St. EM reported a gust of 42 mph. Time was estimated by radar.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$1,000Large trees and power lines were blown down.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$500A tree was blown down across SW 92nd Street. The time of damage was based on radar. The cost of damage was estimated.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$300Large tree limbs were blown down.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindLake Butler$100Large trees down on Lake Ave. and also on 3rd Ave.
March 2021Heavy RainLake Butler-A stationed at the Union County EOC measured 2.48 inches since midnight.
March 2021Heavy RainLake Butler-A station measured 4.29 inches since midnight.
December 2020Thunderstorm WindLake Butler-A tree branched punctured a home wall in Lake Butler due to strong winds. No injuries were reported.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindLake Butler-Numerous tree were blown down across the local area per a report from a Circle K gas station employee.
July 2019Heavy RainLake Butler-Daily storm total rainfall thus far for the day was 2.25 inches.
February 2017Thunderstorm WindLake Butler-Multiple trees and power lines were blown down.
August 2016Heavy RainLake Butler-Minor street flooding was reported of SW 9th Street in Lake Butler near the Union County High School.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindLake Butler-Power lines were blown down on SW 8th Street.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindLake Butler-Trees were blown down along SW 73rd way. The time of damage was based on radar.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindLake Butler-County central dispatch reported a tree down at NW 2nd Street in Lake Butler.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindLake Butler-Trees and power lines were blown down in Lake Butler.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindLake Butler-Power lines were blown west of and near Lake Butler.
May 2003LightningLake Butler-Mobile home set on fire by lightning strike.
April 1999WildfireLake Butler-Reports that two fires caused by lightning strikes.
July 1998WildfireLake Butler-13,000 acres.
February 2006HailLake Butler-no account filed
July 2004Funnel CloudLake Butler-no account filed
April 2003HailLake Butler-no account filed
April 2002HailLake Butler-no account filed
July 2000HailLake Butler-no account filed
July 2000Funnel CloudLake Butler-no account filed
February 1998HailLake Butler-no account filed
June 1996HailLake Butler-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Union 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
Danville2.2 miles9
Cliftonville3.2 miles8
Johnstown3.9 miles9
Guilford4.4 miles8
Brown5.0 miles8
Dukes5.3 miles8
Dana5.7 miles8
Raiford6.2 miles13

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 Lake ButlerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2381270The 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 285222. 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.