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Varnell, Georgia

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the North Whitfield census division. It lies in ZIP code area 30756. It lies near Gobblers Knob. The Survey maps it on the Cohutta quadrangle. 2,179 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 807 feet above sea level.

Varnell within Whitfield County

Population over time

2 figures

Varnell grew from 1,744 to 2,179 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
20101,744
20202,179+435 (+25%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 24 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

376 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 376 fires within 5 miles of Varnell between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,369 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 42 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 burning251
Arson/incendiarism42
Misuse of fire by a minor21
Equipment and vehicle use20
Recreation and ceremony17
Missing data/not specified/undetermined11
Smoking7
Natural4
Railroad operations and maintenance3

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
9 September 2006Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
9 September 2002Debris and open burning5.4 acresGeorgia Forestry CommissionFY2003-WALKER-018
9 September 1998Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 1999Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
8 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1998Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1999Debris and open burningunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 1999Naturalunder an acreGeorgia Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Whitfield County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Varnell: 3 past producers, 3 occurrences, 1 producer, 1 prospect. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Manganese, Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Manganese. 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
Hammontree ProspectIronOccurrence
Lanski Property--Talc Indus IncStone, Crushed/Broken, ManganeseProducer1918
Sam & Jw Cline PropertyBarium-BariteProspect
Bare PropertyIron, ManganeseOccurrence1919
Eslinger PropertyIron, ManganeseOccurrence1919
Fox and Dowler PropertyIron, ManganesePast Producer1889
Lanski Property-Varnell-Cohutta DistrictIron, ManganesePast ProducerResidual
Tunnel Hill Distr.Past ProducerResidual

Every working recorded in Whitfield County

Storms near this place

18 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Varnell in 18 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 1 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2009FloodVarnell$200,000The Whitfield County Emergency Management Director reported that considerable flooding continued in portions of the county, especially the northern areas. Several roads remained under water as earlier flash flooding subsided, but aerial flooding continued for several hours. Some homes and businesses continued to experience flooding during this time period. Monetary damage during this time frame was estimated at $200,000.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindVarnell$25,000The Whitfield County Emergency Management Director reported that a tree was blown over onto a home during a thunderstorm associated with Tropical Storm Lee. The home sustained moderate structural damage as a result.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindVarnell$15,000The Whitfield County 911 center reported numerous trees and power lines blown down in and around Dalton. Locations include near Reed Road and Reed Pond Road, Highway 71 and Maple Grove Road, Reed Road and Highway 41, Wiggins Road and Mitchell Bridge Road, and North Selvidge Street and Chattanooga Avenue.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindVarnell$5,000Multiple trees and powerlines down in Varnell.
March 2021Thunderstorm WindVarnell$3,000The Whitfield County Emergency Manager reported trees blown down near the intersection of Lake Kathy Road and Standing Road.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindVarnell$2,000Trees down at Cedar Street and Spring Street.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindVarnell$2,000Emergency manager reported two trees down on the road on Waring Rd to the south of Rauschenberg Rd.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindVarnell$1,000One large tree down near the intersection of sonya drive and rauschenberg road nw.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindVarnell$1,000A tree was downed on Golf View Drive at Drivers Lane.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindVarnell$1,000Power line and transformer downed along princess drive.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindVarnell$1,000Tree down across the roadway near the intersection of meers rd and durham st.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindVarnell$1,000Emergency manager reports a tree down at the intersection of Cleveland Hwy and Barnard Rd.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindVarnell-Emergency manager reports damage to a carport, with parts of the carport being blown into the roadway, on Cleveland Hwy near the intersection with Maple Grove Rd NW.
March 2023Thunderstorm WindVarnell-A tree was downed on Cleveland Hwy at Nob North Dr.
April 2008HailVarnell-The public observed nickel-sized hail in the Cohutta area. Radar supported that hail of similar size continued to the extreme northeast corner of the county. The public also estimated that winds in the area were near 60 mph, but no wind damage was reported.
April 2006HailVarnell-The public reported nickel-sized hail.
May 2005HailVarnell-The public reported penny-sized hail two miles west of Varnell, in Rocky Face, and Dalton. In addition, wind gusts were estimated at 40 mph in the Varnell area.
June 1997HailVarnell-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Whitfield 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
Plainview2.2 miles24
Prater Mill2.9 miles24
Cohutta4.2 miles24
Waring4.6 miles21
Cedar Valley4.6 miles21
Toonnerville5.1 miles21
Edgar (historical)5.1 miles24
Parrett Crossing5.2 miles24

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 VarnellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2590667The 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 356614. 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.