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Talking Rock, Georgia

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Talking Rock census division. It lies in ZIP code area 30175. It stands on Mill Creek. The Survey maps it on the Talking Rock quadrangle. 91 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,093 feet above sea level.

Talking Rock within Pickens County

Population over time

2 figures

Talking Rock grew from 64 to 91 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
201064
202091+27 (+42%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 20 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

311 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 311 fires within 5 miles of Talking Rock between 1992 and 2019, burning about 1,109 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 84 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 burning131
Arson/incendiarism84
Missing data/not specified/undetermined27
Railroad operations and maintenance18
Equipment and vehicle use16
Misuse of fire by a minor14
Smoking11
Recreation and ceremony5
Natural5

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 2002Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2003-LUMPKIN-003
8 September 1997Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
4 September 2002Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2003-PICKENS-010
4 September 2002Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2003-PICKENS-009
4 September 2002Railroad operations and maintenance301 acresGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2003-PICKENS-008
3 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
26 September 1998Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
11 September 1993Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pickens County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 19 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Talking Rock: 8 past producers, 6 producers, 4 prospects, 1 plant. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Marble, Dimension, Mica, Gold. 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
Betz MineGoldPast Producer
Mill No 4 Ga Marble CoDolomiteProducer
J F Hillhouse ProspectsMicaProspect
J L Mullinax ProspectMicaProspect
W J Garrison ProspectMicaProspect
Lots 142 & 143Marble, DimensionProspect
Marble Quarry UnnamedMarble, DimensionPast Producer
Marble Quarry UnnamedMarble, DimensionPast Producer
Marble Quarry UnnamedMarble, DimensionPast Producer
Unnamed Marble MineMarble, DimensionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Pickens County

Storms near this place

11 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Talking Rock in 11 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 lightning. 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
March 2011Thunderstorm WindTalking Rock$300,000A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia and the Pickens County Emergency Management Director confirmed that extensive damage to trees and property across the northern half of Pickens county was the result of a 75 mph straight-line thunderstorm winds. Two large chicken houses, just south-southwest of Talking Rock, collapsed and were destroyed. Eight homes in the same general area suffered minor damage from downed trees and/or tree limbs. In Jasper, the roof of a large building was removed by the strong winds. It should be noted, however, that this roof was built on top of an existing roof. Several power lines were also down in the area between Talking Rock and Jasper.
September 2008LightningTalking Rock$200,000The Pickens County Progress reported that lightning struck two homes west of Jasper. A home on Hobson Drive was struck and set on fire causing considerable electrical and smoke damage to the home. However, the house was apparently not destroyed. Another home in the 3600 block of Georgia Highway 53 was also struck and set on fire by lightning. The home was completely destroyed.
January 2009FloodTalking Rock$5,000The Pickens County Progress of Jasper reported that heavy rain pushed many creeks in the county out of their banks. Talking Rock Creek rose from one foot to eight feet. Part of Talking Rock Highway had to be closed because of a mudslide. Several other roads were closed because of localized flooding, including Petit, Jordan, Mineral Springs, Fortner, and Thompson Lane. Damage was limited to debris removal, mostly as a result of the mudslide.
December 2004Thunderstorm WindTalking Rock$5,000The public reported that a tree fell on a car while traveling on a roadway.
May 2003Flash FloodTalking Rock$5,000The Pickens county 911 center reported that very heavy rain had quickly forced Price Creek above flood stage resulting in flooding of nearby areas between Georgia Highway 136 and the Gilmer county line along and near East Price Creek Road.
April 1998Flash FloodTalking Rock$5,000There was some flooding in Pickens county when Mill Creek overflowed its banks. The Post Office had some water around it.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindTalking Rock$3,000The Pickens County Emergency Management Director reported that around a dozen trees were down between Talking Rock and the Cherokee County line, southeast of Talmadge. Pea-sized hail was also observed in the far western part of the county.
February 2026HailTalking Rock-Quarter sized hail reported near the intersection of hidden creek road and jones road.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindTalking Rock-A tree was downed on highway 53 at Garrison Rd.
July 2003HailTalking Rock-The Pickens county 911 center reported penny to golf ball-sized hail.
July 2003HailTalking Rock-The Pickens county 911 center reported penny-sized hail in Talking Rock and the public reported penny-sized hail in Ludville.

Every storm recorded in Pickens 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
Carns Mill1.2 miles20
Rober (historical)1.4 miles20
Keasley (historical)1.7 miles20
Blaine2.8 miles20
West Brook2.9 miles21
Ruden4.1 miles21
Hinton4.6 miles19
Clipper4.7 miles20

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 Talking RockAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2585697The 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 356579. 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.