Big Laurel, Kentucky
23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1977. It stands in the Pine Mountain census division. It lies in ZIP code area 40808. It stands on Big Laurel Creek. The Survey maps it on the Nolansburg quadrangle. It stands 1,335 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 23 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1887 USGS Jonesville quadrangle1:125000
- 1891 USGS Jonesville quadrangle1:125000, 9 printings
- 1916 USGS Nolansburg quadrangle1:48000
- 1919 USGS Nolansburg quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Nolansburg quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Johnson City quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Johnson City quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Johnson City quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Johnson City quadrangle1:250000
- 1977 USGS Middlesboro quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
101 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 101 fires within 5 miles of Big Laurel between 1994 and 2020, burning about 15,046 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 22 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 burning | 49 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 22 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 21 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 7 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1998 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 8 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 150 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 26 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 15 September 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | LOBSTER BRANCH |
| 15 September 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 14 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 9 August 2002 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 14 August 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 78 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Big Laurel: 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Manganese. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jones and Mcmahon Prospect | Manganese | Occurrence | ||
| Raines Mine | Manganese | Prospect |
Storms near this place
5 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Laurel in 5 storm reports between 1998 and 2017: 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Laurel | $1,000 | Tree fell on house. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Laurel | - | A Skywarn Storm Spotter observed two trees down near Big Laurel. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Big Laurel | - | Several trees and large limbs were blown down around the Big Laurel community. |
| August 2012 | Hail | Big Laurel | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Hail | Big Laurel | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur | 2.7 miles | 23 | |
| Pine Mountain | 2.8 miles | 23 | |
| Divide | 3.0 miles | 23 | |
| Laden | 4.5 miles | 23 | |
| Nolansburg | 4.7 miles | 23 | |
| Dillon | 4.8 miles | 23 | |
| Putney | 5.2 miles | 23 | |
| Totz | 5.8 miles | 23 |
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 Laurel | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14690102 | The 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 510669. 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.









