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Big Creek, Kentucky

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the Big Creek census division. It lies in ZIP code area 40914. It stands on Grannys Branch. The Survey maps it on the Big Creek quadrangle. It stands 866 feet above sea level.

Big Creek within Clay County

On record in Big Creek

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 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 13 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.

Photographs

3 photographs, 2020

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

A bend in a mountain road in the isolated hill country of southeastern Kentucky, near the settlement of Big Creek
A bend in a mountain road in the isolated hill country of southeastern Kentucky, near the settlement of Big Creek
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
Scene in the isolated hill country of southeastern Kentucky, near the settlement of Big Creek
Scene in the isolated hill country of southeastern Kentucky, near the settlement of Big Creek
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
Scene in the isolated hill country of southeastern Kentucky, near the settlement of Big Creek
Scene in the isolated hill country of southeastern Kentucky, near the settlement of Big Creek
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

155 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 155 fires within 5 miles of Big Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 5,011 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 94 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
Arson/incendiarism94
Debris and open burning33
Missing data/not specified/undetermined22
Natural3
Recreation and ceremony1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
9 September 1998Arson/incendiarismunder an acreDaniel Boone National ForestDRY
25 September 2007Debris and open burningunder an acreDaniel Boone National ForestTIRES
24 September 2019Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreDaniel Boone National ForestSUGAR
17 September 2001Debris and open burning1.0 acresDaniel Boone National ForestTREE
15 September 1999Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresDaniel Boone National ForestGARCIA
7 August 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreDaniel Boone National ForestPEABODY HOUSE
29 August 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acreDaniel Boone National ForestSUGAR
5 July 2012Naturalunder an acreDaniel Boone National ForestBOBS FORK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clay County

Storms near this place

8 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Creek in 8 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 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
June 2007Thunderstorm WindBig Creek$10,000Multiple large limbs blocking the roadway.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindBig Creek$2,000Two trees down on Highways 1524 and 66 North.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBig Creek-Trees were reported downed in the Big Creek community of Clay County.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindBig Creek-Trees and limbs were blown down in the Big Creek Community.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindBig Creek-Trees were blown down in Peabody.
July 2014HailBig Creek-Golf ball size hail was observed in Peabody.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindBig Creek-Trees were blown down blocking several roads.
August 2000Tornado (F0)Big Creek-A brief tornado touch down was reported in the forested area off the Daniel Boone Parkway. Only minimal tree damage resulted from this storm.

Every storm recorded in Clay 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
Peabody2.0 miles13
Eriline2.2 miles13
Mouth of Hector (historical)3.0 miles13
Jacks Creek3.2 miles13
Marcum3.6 miles13
Hector4.5 miles13
Spurlock4.9 miles13
Panco5.5 miles13

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 Big CreekAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q14690099The 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 510640. 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.

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.