Big Bay, Illinois

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.

• 1917 USGS Brownfield quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
• 1949 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
• 1950 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000
• 1954 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
• 1961 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
• 1962 USGS Brownfield quadrangle1:62500
• 1962 USGS Reevesville quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
• 1964 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
• 1984 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:100000
• 1986 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:100000
• 1987 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000
• 1996 USGS Reevesville quadrangle1:24000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Big Bay between 2000 and 2017, burning about 165 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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.

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

• New Columbia
• Round Knob
• Samoth
• Choat

Every fire recorded in Massac County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Big Bay: 3 occurrences, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Fire Clay (Refractory). Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Every working recorded in Massac County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Bay in 5 storm reports between 1997 and 2011: 4 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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.

Every storm recorded in Massac County

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

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.

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 404375. 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.