BlockBefore

French Lick, Indiana

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1993. It stands in French Lick Township. It lies in ZIP code area 47432. It lies near Dry Hollow. The Survey maps it on the French Lick quadrangle. 1,722 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 499 feet above sea level.

French Lick within Orange County

On record in French Lick

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

French Lick fell from 1,807 to 1,722 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
20101,807
20201,722-85 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 15 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

19 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of French Lick between 1995 and 2019, burning about 90 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 burning12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Arson/incendiarism2
Recreation and ceremony1

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
28 September 2001Arson/incendiarism12 acresHoosier National ForestSPURGEON
8 July 2012Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresHoosier National Forest56 S CURVE
27 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresHoosier National ForestCASINO
12 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined18 acresHoosier National ForestSTEVENS SAWMILL
28 March 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreHoosier National ForestGOLF BALL
24 March 2001Missing data/not specified/undetermined7.0 acresHoosier National ForestWEST BADEN RESTART
24 March 1995Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresHoosier National ForestSPRINGS VALLEY
17 March 2005Debris and open burning4.0 acresHoosier National ForestSTEVENS FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Orange County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of French Lick: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Cave Quarries, Inc.Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Orange County

Storms near this place

34 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names French Lick in 34 storm reports between 1996 and 2026: 16 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 6 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
August 2001LightningFrench Lick$75,000A house was destroyed in a fire caused by lightning.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick$20,000The public reported trees and power poles down in the area.
March 2016Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick$5,000A broadcast media meteorologist relayed a report of a roof blown off a gas station due to severe thunderstorm winds.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick$1,000Power poles were broken.
April 2026Flash FloodFrench Lick-There was a water rescue after a car ended up in a creek in French Lick.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-There were multiple trees down just south of French Lick along State Road 145.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-Trees down in French Lick.
June 2023HailFrench Lick-One inch hail was reported at the French Lick Resort.
June 2023HailFrench Lick-A picture of large hail was on social media.
August 2023Tornado (EF1)French Lick-The tornado began along S Indiana Ave where several large hardwood trees had branches snap towards the east. Some homes saw side wall paneling damage as well as roofing cover damage. Damage continued along W Summit Circle Dr where several more large hardwoods were uprooted and snapped.||The main area of damage is located just south of the downtown area of French Lick on Skyline Drive. This is an area of higher elevation that saw multiple large hardwood trees snapped, some houses saw shingles and side paneling damage. This is where the highest wind speeds of 107 mph would have occurred based on damage making this tornado an EF1.The tornado then made its way northeast to S Summit St where one home saw significant sidewall damage on both its north and south side, as well as paneling damage.||The tornado then tracked southeast towards W County Road 100 S where it appeared to weaken. Several smaller hardwoods saw their limbs broken off and debris was spread out towards the north. A small sandbox outbuilding had its roof torn off and|debris fell just slightly east of the structure. Surrounding trees were bent towards the east and northeast. The winds in this area topped out at 85 mph based on the damage seen.
March 2016HailFrench Lick-A trained spotter reported hail 1.75 inches in diameter.
June 2015Flash FloodFrench Lick-A law enforcement official relayed to the NWS that because of torrential rainfall, there were county roads flooded with high water flowing over.
April 2014Flash FloodFrench Lick-Flash flooding briefly closed Indiana State Highway 56 in French Lick.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-Power lines were downed along State Road 56 in French Lick.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-Trees and power lines were down across the city of French Lick.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-A tree was blown down across a power line.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-Thunderstorm winds brought down a few trees. Near French Lick, one falling tree took a power line down.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-Several trees reported down across French Lick and Paoli.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-A few trees were downed.
September 2006Flash FloodFrench Lick-Monon Road was closed by high water.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-A 60 mph wind gust was measured in the Patoka Lake area.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-A spotter reported a 60 mph wind gust near Patoka Lake.
May 2002Flash FloodFrench Lick-Water covered roads in and near the town of French Lick.
February 1999HailFrench Lick-Dime size hail fell in French Lick
April 2009HailFrench Lick-no account filed
June 2007HailFrench Lick-no account filed
April 2007HailFrench Lick-no account filed
May 2006HailFrench Lick-no account filed
May 2003HailFrench Lick-no account filed
June 2001Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-no account filed
December 2001Flash FloodFrench Lick-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-no account filed
April 1997Thunderstorm WindFrench Lick-no account filed
May 1996HailFrench Lick-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Orange 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
West Baden Springs1.2 miles15
Prospect2.0 miles15
Abydel3.5 miles15
Roland4.6 miles13
Norton5.0 miles13
Turleys5.5 miles15
Orangeville6.6 miles14
Greenbrier6.8 miles15

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 French LickAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1455289The 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 450938. 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.