Gray, Georgia

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Gray-Macon East census division. It lies in ZIP code area 31032. The Survey maps it on the Gray quadrangle. 3,436 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 600 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Gray within Jones County

On record in Gray

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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Gray grew from 3,276 to 3,436 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.

Year	People	Change
2010	3,276
2020	3,436	+160 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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.

1953 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1958 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
1963 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000
1964 USGS Gray quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1981 USGS Milledgeville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
1988 USGS Athens quadrangle1:250000

Photographs

2 photographs, 2017

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

A Georgia barn near Gray, in Jones County, Georgia, considered classic because many Georgia barns are noted for their high, tin, pitched roofs
Highsmith, Carol M, 2017. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

331 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 331 fires within 5 miles of Gray between 1992 and 2020, burning about 762 acres in total. 14 started naturally. 15 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	210
Misuse of fire by a minor	26
Equipment and vehicle use	21
Smoking	19
Arson/incendiarism	15
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	15
Natural	14
Recreation and ceremony	9
Railroad operations and maintenance	2

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
6 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2019JONES001
4 September 1997	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
3 September 1997	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
24 September 2014	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2015-JONES-003
23 September 1997	Debris and open burning	22 acres	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
20 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2019JONES004
20 September 1997	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
17 September 1997	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jones County

Storms near this place

45 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gray in 45 storm reports between 1993 and 2009: 24 thunderstorm wind, 18 hail, 2 lightning, 1 funnel cloud. 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
May 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$500,000	An 18-wheel truck was crushed by a large tree toppled by thunderstorm winds.
December 1996	Lightning	Gray	$200,000	no account filed
November 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$50,000	The Jones county Emergency Management Director reported that strong thunderstorm winds caused considerable damage to a trucking industry located in Pinesville, about halfway between Gray and Haddock on Georgia Highway 22. The winds removed a portion of the roof and ripped off the front doors of the main building at the industry. A shed attached to the main building was also blown away. Several trees fell down on the property as well, causing damage. A tree fell on a service truck, causing considerable damage to the vehicle, while another tree fell on a pontoon. Other trees and power lines were down in the county, especially near the Bibb county line.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$20,000	A newspaper reported many trees and power lines down. One fell on a home on Joycliff Road, crushing the carport and damaging the rear of the house. Another brick foundation was damaged by a falling tree.
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$5,000	An amateur radio operator relayed a storm spotter report that a tree had fallen on a car.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$5,000	Several large trees and power lines were downed throughout the county by thunderstorm winds.
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$3,000	Thunderstorm winds knocked down trees and power lines all over the county.
January 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$2,000	An amateur radio operator reported power lines down near the Bibb/Jones county line in extreme southwest Jones county.
May 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$2,000	The Jones county Sheriff's Office relayed to an amateur radio operator that several trees were blown down.
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$1,500	The Gray Fire Department reported trees down across Green Settlement Road and Dye Road.
December 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$1,000	The Jones County Emergency Management Director reported that three trees were blown down in and around the Gray area.
July 2004	Lightning	Gray	$1,000	The Gray Police Department reported that a nearby lightning strike rendered one of their radio receivers inoperative.
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$1,000	The Jones County 911 center reported that a few trees were down.
August 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$1,000	The Jones county sheriff's office reported several trees knocked down.
May 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$1,000	Several trees down along Georgia Highway 29 north.
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$1,000	Thunderstorm winds knocked down several trees in downtown Gray.
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$1,000	no account filed
December 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$1,000	no account filed
June 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$700	Thunderstorm winds knocked down two trees on Georgia Highway 129 in Gray.
May 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$500	The Jones County 911 Center reported that two trees were blown down, one in Gray and the other one mile southwest of Gray near the intersection of U.S. Highway 129 and Georgia Highway 18.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$500	The Jones County Fire and Rescue Department reported that a couple of trees were blown down, one in Gray and the other near Wayside.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$500	The Gray Police Department reported that a few trees were blown down in the area. Pea-sized hail was also reported during the thunderstorm.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$500	Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees limbs across roadways in the city of Gray.
August 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$500	Power poles and lines were downed by thunderstorm winds along Georgia Highway 18.
February 1993	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$500	Numerous large tree limbs were blown down.
February 1993	Hail	Gray	$500	Numerous large tree limbs were blown down.
January 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Gray	$100	Thunderstorm winds knocked trees down on cars and along Upper River and Henderson Roads.
April 2009	Hail	Gray	-	The public observed penny-sized hail in the southwest part of Jones county, not far from Gray and Clinton. Time and location of data refined with radar data.
February 2008	Hail	Gray	-	The Jones County Emergency Management Director reported penny-sized hail.
August 2008	Funnel Cloud	Gray	-	WMAZ Television of Macon relayed a report of a funnel cloud from the public just on Georgia Highway 22 just east of Gray. Doppler radar supported rotation in this area.
April 2005	Hail	Gray	-	The public reported nickel-sized hail.
May 2005	Hail	Gray	-	The public reported penny-sized hail.
December 2005	Hail	Gray	-	The public reported nickel-sized hail.
May 2003	Hail	Gray	-	Amateur radio operators, as well as the public and the Bibb county Emergency Management Director reported hail, ranging in size from pennies to quarters throughout much of the city of Gray. The public reported golf ball-sized hail one mile south of Gray.
August 2002	Hail	Gray	-	The public reported quarter size hail.
November 2002	Hail	Gray	-	The public reported dime size hail.
August 1999	Hail	Gray	-	Two public reports indicated dime and golf ball size hail fell between Macon and Gray.
November 1997	Hail	Gray	-	The public reported dime to nickel size hail.
April 1998	Hail	Gray	-	no account filed
May 1998	Hail	Gray	-	no account filed
May 1997	Hail	Gray	-	no account filed
April 1997	Hail	Gray	-	no account filed
April 1997	Hail	Gray	-	no account filed
December 1996	Hail	Gray	-	no account filed
March 1993	Hail	Gray	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jones 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Bragg	1.0 miles	11
Clinton	1.4 miles	12
Morton	2.2 miles	12
Pine Ridge	2.5 miles	10
Bradley	3.3 miles	11
James	4.4 miles	10
Cumslo	4.4 miles	12
Fortville	5.1 miles	10

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 Gray	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2641897	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 327996. 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.