Dexter, Kentucky
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1936 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Kirksey census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42036. It stands on Rockhouse Creek. The Survey maps it on the Dexter quadrangle. 257 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 443 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresDexter fell from 277 to 257 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 277 | |
| 2020 | 257 | -20 (-7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 12 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.
- 1936 USGS Dexter quadrangle1:24000
- 1951 USGS Dexter quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1951 USGS Murray quadrangle1:62500
- 1956 USGS Dyersburg quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1969 USGS Dexter quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Murray quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
35 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 35 fires within 5 miles of Dexter between 1998 and 2014, burning about 212 acres in total. None started naturally. None was 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 13 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 26 July 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | BRUSHY CR |
| 3 April 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.5 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 20 April 2014 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 4.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | 305 NANNIE NEAL RD. |
| 2 April 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 8 March 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 7 March 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 12 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 6 March 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | BUCKET |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Dexter: 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Creek Clay | Clay | Prospect |
Storms near this place
21 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dexter in 21 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 9 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 3 flood, 2 flash flood. 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 2021 | Flash Flood | Dexter | $100,000 | Numerous rural county roads were either flooded or completely washed out from near Almo to Dexter and surrounding areas. |
| May 2006 | Flash Flood | Dexter | $50,000 | Flash flooding prompted the evacuations of at least two families. A house trailer was flooded on Kentucky 1483 just northeast of Murray. Another house was flooded up to the front door. Several roads were under water. A few motorists were swept into ditches. The county rescue squad received at least 15 requests for assistance from people stranded in their homes or vehicles. Water was over the road in several locations along Highway 280 east of Murray. The flooding forced the closure of parts of Kentucky 280 between Highway 94 and Panorama Shores. Flooded vehicles and homes were reported along Kentucky 280. Two to three inches of flowing water was across roads near Dexter. Some private lanes were washed out in the same area. An unofficial rainfall measurement of four inches was reported by a member of the county fire and rescue squad. |
| January 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dexter | $30,000 | A wind gust estimated near 70 MPH blew down an amateur radio tower and numerous trees near Dexter. An insurance company in Murray lost part of its roof. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dexter | $15,000 | Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in the Dexter area. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dexter | $10,000 | A number of trees and large limbs were blown down across roadways. Some of the trees were uprooted and snapped. |
| November 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dexter | $3,000 | Large tree limbs were blown down. |
| October 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dexter | $3,000 | Several large trees were down on Highway 1346. A couple of trees were blown down on the campus of Murray State University. Near the campus, a power pole was blown down, knocking out power to a portion of the area. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Dexter | - | Hail estimated to 1 inch fell in Dexter as a thunderstorm drifted northward. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Dexter | - | Trained spotters reported creeks were out of their banks in the Dexter area. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Dexter | - | Numerous roads were closed throughout the county due to flooding. Most of the roads were city streets in Murray or lesser travelled county roads. A trained spotter eight miles northeast of Murray measured 4.47 inches in 48 hours. A Cocorahs observer at Murray measured 4.82 inches. |
| February 2011 | Flood | Dexter | - | The Clarks River flooded over Highway 1346 east of Dexter. A van was stranded in floodwaters up to the headlights. A couple of other secondary roads were flooded near the river. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dexter | - | Spotters estimated a wind gust between 55 and 60 MPH just inside the county line near Kenlake State Resort Park. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dexter | - | Winds were estimated near 60 MPH. |
| April 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dexter | - | Numerous trees were down in northern Calloway County. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dexter | - | Trees were blown down between Dexter and Almo. The heaviest damage was north of Dexter in Marshall County. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Dexter | - | no account filed |
| February 2012 | Hail | Dexter | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Hail | Dexter | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Dexter | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Dexter | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Dexter | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blakely (historical) | 1.3 miles | 12 | |
| Wadesboro | 1.4 miles | 12 | |
| Pleasant Hill | 2.0 miles | 12 | |
| Flint (historical) | 3.3 miles | 12 | |
| Almo Heights | 3.5 miles | 12 | |
| Almo | 3.5 miles | 12 | |
| Independence (historical) | 3.6 miles | 13 | |
| Temple Hill (historical) | 4.8 miles | 12 |
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 Dexter | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q13621323 | 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 490852. 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.





