BlockBefore

Bell City, Kentucky

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1952 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Sedalia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42040. It stands on Cooter Creek. The Survey maps it on the Lynnville quadrangle. It stands 436 feet above sea level.

Bell City within Graves County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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

42 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 42 fires within 5 miles of Bell City between 1997 and 2020, burning about 240 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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/undetermined25
Debris and open burning7
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony2
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Other causes1
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
29 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
17 September 2008Railroad operations and maintenance8.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
6 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTennessee Division of ForestryWEAKLEY COUNTY TENNESSEE 89 10028
20 June 2008Debris and open burning1.0 acresTennessee Division of Forestrynot named
1 April 2015Recreation and ceremony1.8 acresKentucky Division of ForestryFAIRBANKS ROAD FIRE
1 April 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryHONEY BEE LANE
3 March 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
3 March 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Graves County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Bell City: 4 past producers, 2 producers, 1 prospect. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Ball Clay, 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
Burton ShaleClayProspect
Cooley No. 10 PitBall ClayPast Producer
Cooley No. 9 PitBall ClayPast Producer
Farmington Clay MineClayProducer
Dixon PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerUnconsolidated Sediments
Dixon PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Dixon PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Graves County

Storms near this place

4 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bell City in 4 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 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
February 2018Tornado (EF1)Bell City$100,000This EF-1 tornado touched down about 1 mile southwest of Bell City and moved northeast across Highway 97 into Calloway County. The majority of the path and associated damage occurred in Calloway County. In the Graves County portion, a few barns were damaged or destroyed. A house sustained minor damage. Many dozens of trees, some very large, were snapped or uprooted. At least one eyewitness observed the tornado. A convergent damage pattern consisting of dozens of very large uprooted trees was visible from Kentucky Highway 97. Peak winds were estimated near 100 mph. The tornado path continued into Calloway County.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBell City$12,000State police reported two trees blocking Bell City Road and a blown over outbuilding.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindBell City-Straight-line thunderstorm winds estimated up to 85 MPH produced damage in the southeast corner of Graves County, about 150 yards from the Tennessee state line. Numerous trees and power lines were down.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindBell City-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Graves 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
Fairbanks2.7 miles9
Boydsville2.7 miles9
Lynnville4.0 miles9
Tri City4.0 miles9
Vealsburg5.0 miles9
Cooksville5.3 miles9
Browns Grove6.0 miles10
Cuba7.6 miles9

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 Bell CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q4883141The 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 507487. 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.