Cranks, Kentucky
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1977. It stands in the Cawood census division. It lies in ZIP code area 40820. It stands on Mill Creek. The Survey maps it on the Evarts quadrangle. It stands 1,467 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 24 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
- 1935 USGS Evarts quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Evarts quadrangle1:24000, 3 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
- 1976 USGS Evarts quadrangle1:24000
- 1977 USGS Middlesboro quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
88 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 88 fires within 5 miles of Cranks between 1995 and 2020, burning about 5,509 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 28 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 | 34 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 28 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 September 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 25 acres | Virginia Department of Forestry | not named |
| 16 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 11 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 10 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 27 August 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Virginia Department of Forestry | not named |
| 25 June 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 23 June 2008 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 6 May 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Virginia Department of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Cranks: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Hur Mine | Iron | Past Producer | Hematite | |
| Noes Siding Mine | Iron | Past Producer | Hematite | |
| Truro Mine | Iron | Past Producer | Hematite |
Storms near this place
11 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cranks in 11 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 5 flood, 3 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind. 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 2018 | Flood | Cranks | $500,000 | Numerous roads in Cranks, Evarts, and Harlan and elsewhere around the county were closed or impassable due to flooding. A written state of emergency was declared for Harlan County during the height of the flooding. |
| April 2013 | Flash Flood | Cranks | $200,000 | Highway 421 was flooded near Cranks. |
| November 1996 | Flash Flood | Cranks | $5,000 | no account filed |
| January 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cranks | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cranks | $250 | A three inch diameter limb was broken out of a five foot tall tree. |
| May 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cranks | - | NWS storm survey showed straightline winds with damage consistent with approximately 65 to 70 mph wind gusts. There were a few felled trees (some partially uprooted) and other trees with large branches broken off. Winds followed the direction of the valley floor along KY-568. One resident stated that the winds lasted only a few minutes. |
| March 2021 | Flood | Cranks | - | Pictures on social media showed water surrounding a house in the Cranks community. |
| April 2017 | Flash Flood | Cranks | - | Emergency Management officials reported water swiftly flowing over roadways from Cranks to Smith as around two inches of rain fell. |
| April 2017 | Flood | Cranks | - | Emergency management reported water from Cranks Creek spilling over onto U.S. Highway 421 in Cranks, along with water from Martins Fork flowing over Kentucky Highway 987 in Smith. |
| January 2013 | Flood | Cranks | - | Highway 421 near Cranks was closed for a time due to flooding. |
| December 2009 | Flood | Cranks | - | Highway 421 was closed for a couple of hours due to flooding. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crummies | 1.8 miles | 24 | |
| Cawood | 3.3 miles | 24 | |
| Bobs Creek | 4.4 miles | 24 | |
| Three Point | 4.7 miles | 25 | |
| Smith | 5.0 miles | 26 | |
| Mary Helen | 5.5 miles | 25 | |
| Lenarue | 5.8 miles | 25 | |
| Ten Spot | 5.9 miles | 24 |
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 Cranks | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5182192 | 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 490292. 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.











