Cliff, Kentucky
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Prestonsburg census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41653. It stands on May Branch. The Survey maps it on the Prestonsburg quadrangle. It stands 623 feet above sea level.
On record in Cliff
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 within a mile 5 records
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
Samuel May Houselisted 1980 · 0.0 miles away
West Prestonsburg Bridgelisted 1989 · 0.6 miles away
Joseph D. Harkins Houselisted 1989 · 0.7 miles away
B. F. Combs Houselisted 1989 · 0.9 miles away
May-Latta Houselisted 1989 · 1.0 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 17 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.
- 1886 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1915 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:62500
- 1915 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:48000
- 1918 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:24000
- 1978 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:24000
- 1982 USGS Williamson quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
182 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 182 fires within 5 miles of Cliff between 1997 and 2020, burning about 6,555 acres in total. None started naturally. 39 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 | 63 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 39 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 38 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 37 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 2010 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | ABBOTT MTN |
| 8 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 8 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 7 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 4 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 50 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 25 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 30 August 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 29 August 2007 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 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 Cliff: 1 past producer, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Silica, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Point Roadcut | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Levisa Fork Sandstone Pit | Silica | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
6 since 2014Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cliff in 6 storm reports between 2014 and 2025: 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cliff | $1,200 | A telephone pole was downed by winds along Cliff Road in Prestonsburg. The exact location along Cliff Road was not given. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cliff | - | The 911 call center relayed a report of trees that were downed along North Central Avenue behind the Wendy's in Prestonsburg. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Cliff | - | A trained spotter reported hail 1 inch in diameter, along with 2.8 inches of rain from the storm that passed over the East Kentucky Science Center, located on the Big Sandy Community and Technical College campus. |
| March 2021 | Flood | Cliff | - | Route 1427 is blocked at several spots due to high water across the road near Abbott Creek. |
| September 2018 | Flood | Cliff | - | Local Emergency Management observed portions of Kentucky Highway 321 and Abbott Creek Road in Prestonsburg being inundated with water, causing each roadway to be impassable. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cliff | - | One tree was blown down and was blocking Old KY 114. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Prestonsburg | 0.7 miles | 17 | |
| Prestonsburg | 1.2 miles | 17 | |
| Lancer | 2.5 miles | 18 | |
| Bays Branch | 2.9 miles | 17 | |
| Bull Creek | 3.0 miles | 18 | |
| Watergap | 3.6 miles | 18 | |
| Auxier | 4.0 miles | 17 | |
| Sloan | 4.4 miles | 17 |
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 Cliff | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5132510 | 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 489665. 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.











