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Willow Creek, Indiana

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Portage Township. It lies in ZIP code area 46368. It stands on Crisman Ditch. The Survey maps it on the Portage quadrangle.

Willow Creek within Porter County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 19 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.

In the county-history sources

8,499 words on this township

Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : Historical and Biographical, published 1882; History of Porter County, Indiana : a Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People and Its Principal Interests, published 1912 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Portage Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Portage Township - 8,499 words.

Fires near this place

583 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 583 fires within 5 miles of Willow Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,453 acres in total. 16 started naturally. 68 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined143
Railroad operations and maintenance139
Debris and open burning86
Arson/incendiarism68
Misuse of fire by a minor39
Fireworks39
Recreation and ceremony22
Equipment and vehicle use21
Natural16
Smoking8
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Other causes1

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 1999Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreFLEA2
6 September 1998Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreRAIL FIRE
6 September 1994Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreNORTH
5 September 1998Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreMISSEDFIRE
4 September 2018Railroad operations and maintenance1.0 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreMILL
30 September 1995Railroad operations and maintenance1.2 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreCAN
27 September 1997Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreIndiana Dunes National LakeshorePAINT
26 September 1995Arson/incendiarism2.1 acresIndiana Dunes National LakeshoreDIAMOND

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Porter County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Willow Creek: 3 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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
Box Sand Co PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Crisman Sand CompanySand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Lorenz Brothers Pit Number 1ClayPast Producer
Zehner PitClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Porter County

Storms near this place

5 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Willow Creek in 5 storm reports between 2009 and 2020: 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. 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 2020Thunderstorm WindWillow Creek-A ten inch diameter tree limb was blown down on Lute Road in Portage.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindWillow Creek-Powerlines were blown down in Portage.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindWillow Creek-A large pine tree was blown down on Stone Avenue just west of Willowcreek Road.
September 2009Thunderstorm WindWillow Creek-Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph with small tree limbs blown down on Lute Road.
January 2013HailWillow Creek-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Porter 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
Crisman0.5 miles19
Woodland Village0.6 miles19
Portage0.8 miles19
Garyton1.8 miles19
Salt Creek Estates2.1 miles19
McCool2.2 miles19
Ogden Dunes2.5 miles19
Pleasant Valley2.6 miles19

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 446099. 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.