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Photograph of Polecat Creek Bridge
Photograph by Art davis, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Polecat Creek Bridge

Built in 1901. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

From the record

“Polecat Creek Bridge is a stone arch bridge, in Kansas, United States. It is built of Kansas limestone, crossing Polecat Creek, a clear water creek, and is located in the southwest corner of Butler County, Kansas, two miles from Sedgwick County, Kansas on SW Butler Road.”

Wikipedia article Polecat Creek Bridge, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 26 National Register listings published here for Butler County · listed in 1985 · category: Structure · built in 1901.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 5 mi. W and 2 mi. S of Douglass, Douglass, 67039
  • When was it listed? July 1985
  • Category. structure
  • Also known as. Masonry Arch Bridges of Kansas TR
  • Township. Richland township
  • When was it built? 1901
  • National Register reference number. 85001438 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

81 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 81 fires within 5 miles of Polecat Creek Bridge between 2001 and 2020, burning about 796 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.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning59
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Equipment and vehicle use7
Recreation and ceremony2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Fireworks1
Arson/incendiarism1

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 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresCowley County2017155
30 September 2017Debris and open burning2.0 acresSumner County313
17 September 2015Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresKansas Forest Service2015150
14 September 2004Debris and open burning1.0 acresCowley Countynot named
4 July 2018Fireworks1.0 acresKansas Forest Service2018203
4 July 2003Recreation and ceremony3.0 acresCowley Countynot named
25 July 2017Debris and open burning12 acresButler County326
25 July 2006Debris and open burning7.0 acresCowley Countynot named

Every fire recorded in Butler County

Storms near this property

60 of 113 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Douglass, the town this property stands in, in 113 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 55 hail, 45 thunderstorm wind, 7 flash flood, 3 tornado. 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
April 2015Thunderstorm WindDouglass$75,000The emergency manager reported two mobile homes just northeast of town were destroyed.
September 2008Flash FloodDouglass$55,000Local broadcast media reported that a mobile home park was being evacuated due to high water in the town of Douglass.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindDouglass$50,000A large barn was destroyed by the damaging winds.
April 2009Tornado (EF1)Douglass$30,000A tornado was on the ground for 5 minutes and produced several power flashes. One home and some outbuildings sustained damage.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindDouglass$20,000Wind damage occurred to a barn, an outbuilding and to the main house.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindDouglass$20,000Wind gusts estimated at 100 mph blew down numerous trees and removed roofs to several sheds.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindDouglass$15,000Butler County Emergency Management relayed a report of a destroyed barn. The time of the event was estimated from radar.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindDouglass$10,000There were reports of downed power lines along Highway 77 on the north side of Douglass.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindDouglass$10,000Two to four inch diameter trees were reported down.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindDouglass$5,000Damage occurred to numerous structures.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindDouglass$5,000Damage occurred to a barn.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindDouglass$5,000A large tree was broken at the base. The tree diameter was 17 inches, but the tree was dying due to the hollowed out portion of the trunk.
April 1994HailDouglass$5,000no account filed
May 1993Thunderstorm WindDouglass$5,000no account filed
May 2019Thunderstorm WindDouglass$2,500The emergency manager confirmed that several limbs were downed. Amateur radio also reported that a few light poles were downed.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindDouglass$2,000The winds uprooted a 60 foot tall, 2 foot diameter tree.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindDouglass$1,000Tree with 1.5 inch diameter trunk uprooted and fell onto elementary school. Damage to school unspecified.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindDouglass$500The winds knocked down ten inch diameter tree limbs.
May 2010FloodDouglass$100Low lying areas around town were flooded.
November 2025HailDouglass-A spotter reported lots of dime to quarter-sized hail resulting in about one to two inches of hail accumulation.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindDouglass-Tree branches up to 10 inches in diameter were reported down. A car port was flipped, and a power line was down.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindDouglass-Trained spotter for the county in the Douglass area reported an estimated 60 mph gust as the storm moved through.
April 2024HailDouglass-Quarter sized hail and 50 mph winds reported.
April 2023HailDouglass-This was a spotter report relayed by emergency management.
June 2023Heavy RainDouglass-Twenty four hour total of a Cocorahs observer of 1.33 inches.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindDouglass-Relayed via the Emergency Manager.
May 2019Tornado (EF1)Douglass-Significant tree damage was noted across the community. The only structure that took any damage was one building that had half of it's roof peeled off.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindDouglass-No damage was reported.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindDouglass-Limbs were blown down. Torrential rains also occurred.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindDouglass-No damage was reported.
June 2018Tornado (EF0)Douglass-Delayed report of a tornado touchdown north of town and west of Highway 77.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindDouglass-A trained spotter estimated the gust.
October 2013FloodDouglass-Street flooding occurred in Douglass.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindDouglass-No damage reported.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindDouglass-Estimated gust reported by a trained spotter along with one half inch sized hail.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindDouglass-A fence was blown down and some vinyl trim was blown off of a house.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindDouglass-The public reported the strong winds.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindDouglass-Penny sized hail also occurred with the high winds.
July 2006HailDouglass-In addition to the hail, 55 mph winds were reported.
May 2005HailDouglass-Occurred on North side of town.
May 2002Flash FloodDouglass-South Elm under water. Flash flooding threatening trailer park.
May 2002Flash FloodDouglass-Many streets flooded on south side of town with two vehicles submerged. In addition, six trailer homes surrrounded by flash flooding.
May 2002Flash FloodDouglass-Eight Mile Creek overflowed one mile north of the Butler/Cowley county line.
June 2002Flash FloodDouglass-Most roads in and around town flooded.
June 2002Flash FloodDouglass-Some roads flooded 3-5 inches deep.
June 2002Flash FloodDouglass-Indianola/210th St. intersection flooded 1 foot deep.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindDouglass-Large limbs blown down.
September 2000HailDouglass-Occurred on Butler/Cowley county line.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindDouglass-SHINGLES BLOWN OFF ROOFS, & 6 INCH TREE LIMBS BLOWN DOWN.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindDouglass-Greater than 60 mph winds were reported by the fire department in Andover. Several four inch diameter trees were uprooted in Douglass.
April 2026HailDouglass-no account filed
May 2024HailDouglass-no account filed
May 2024Thunderstorm WindDouglass-no account filed
June 2017HailDouglass-no account filed
June 2017HailDouglass-no account filed
August 2017HailDouglass-no account filed
August 2017HailDouglass-no account filed
August 2017HailDouglass-no account filed
May 2016HailDouglass-no account filed
April 2014HailDouglass-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Butler County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

2 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Douglass Township Community Building5.5 miles1995
Creed-Mills House5.5 miles2013

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 85001438 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Butler CountyAll 26 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • 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.
  • 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.