Clayhole, Kentucky
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1977. It stands in the Hardshell census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41348. It stands on Riley Branch. The Survey maps it on the Haddix quadrangle. It stands 807 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 13 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.
- 1891 USGS Hazard quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1913 USGS Buckhorn quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Haddix quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Haddix quadrangle1:24000
- 1972 USGS Haddix quadrangle1:24000
- 1977 USGS Hazard quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
246 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 246 fires within 5 miles of Clayhole between 1997 and 2020, burning about 19,692 acres in total. None started naturally. 64 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 | 104 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 64 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 63 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1998 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 7 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 7.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 18 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 15 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 11 September 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 300 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 30 June 2012 | Debris and open burning | 48 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | BIG BRANCH |
| 25 June 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | HWY 1178/L |
| 6 May 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
11 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Clayhole in 11 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 8 thunderstorm wind, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clayhole | $10,000 | A mobile home was destroyed by thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clayhole | $10,000 | Four trees and power lines were blown down on Highway 476. A tree was blown down on Highway 15 6 miles south of Jackson. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Clayhole | - | Quarter sized hail was reported about 3 miles from KY-15 on KY-476 in the Clayhole community. |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clayhole | - | In addition to large hail, several trees were reported to have been downed along KY-476, about 3 miles from KY-15 in the Clayhole community, with power going out as a result. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clayhole | - | A report on social media stated that a tree was downed and blocking the westbound lane of KY-476 between Flintville and Clayhole. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clayhole | - | A tree was downed on Riley Branch blocking the roadway near the community of Clayhole. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clayhole | - | A tree was blown down along KY-476 in the vicinity of Clayhole, approximately 3.5 miles from the highway's intersection with KY-15. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clayhole | - | A tree was blown down and onto Riley Br Rd near Clayhole. |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Clayhole | - | A tree was blown down and across Hwy 476. |
| May 2016 | Hail | Clayhole | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Hail | Clayhole | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flintville | 1.2 miles | 13 | |
| Lost Creek | 1.8 miles | 13 | |
| Watts | 1.8 miles | 13 | |
| Hardshell | 2.5 miles | 13 | |
| Haddix | 3.0 miles | 13 | |
| Kragon | 3.7 miles | 14 | |
| Copland | 3.9 miles | 13 | |
| Little | 3.9 miles | 13 |
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 Clayhole | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14690235 | 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 507710. 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.







