Helton, Kentucky
25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1977. It stands in the Mozelle census division. It lies in ZIP code area 40810. It stands on Simms Branch. The Survey maps it on the Helton quadrangle. It stands 1,240 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 25 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
- 1903 USGS Harlan quadrangle1:48000
- 1916 USGS Harlan quadrangle1:48000
- 1919 USGS Harlan quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Helton quadrangle1:24000, 2 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
- 1974 USGS Helton quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1977 USGS Middlesboro quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
161 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 161 fires within 5 miles of Helton between 1997 and 2020, burning about 17,519 acres in total. None started naturally. 33 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 | 62 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 33 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 500 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | POTATO KNOB |
| 24 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 75 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 24 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 6.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 14 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | BUCK HOLLOW FIRE |
| 7 May 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 1 May 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 84 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 9 April 2009 | Debris and open burning | 50 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 8 April 2002 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
8 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Helton in 8 storm reports between 2002 and 2024: 3 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 tornado. 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 2016 | Flash Flood | Helton | $50,000 | Local media relayed reports of significant flash flooding across southern sections of Leslie County near the Harlan and Bell County lines. Local residents sustained considerable property damage, including that to homes, fences, and yards. Small bridges along U.S. Highway 421 were washed away as creeks spilled over their banks. The Kentucky State Emergency Operations Center received requests for assistance and resources from county officials as written declarations were also composed. |
| March 2012 | Flash Flood | Helton | $10,000 | Flashing flooding was reported along Highways 1780 and 2058 with some structures being damaged by the flood water. Mudslides were also reported on highway 2058 and 421 from mile marker 0 near the Harlan County line north to about mile marker 10. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Helton | $1,000 | Trees and a power line were blown down in the community of Helton. |
| November 2010 | Flash Flood | Helton | $1,000 | Water was reported to be over US Highway 421 near mile marker 6 in the Helton vicinity. The highway department was in the process of closing at least one lane of the highway. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Helton | - | The Leslie county dispatch reported two trees blown down around mile marker 3 along US-421, in the community of Helton. |
| April 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Helton | - | A trained spotter reported several trees down south of Hyden along U.S. Highway 421. |
| July 2014 | Tornado (EF1) | Helton | - | A tornado touched down briefly in southern Leslie County visible from Highway 2009 around 424 PM on Sunday afternoon. A consistent path up to a half mile wide of uprooted and snapped hardwood and softwood trees was observed descending down the Upper Double branch creek, crossing Highway 2009 and then ascending back up the adjacent hillside in a west-northwest to east-southeast direction. Uprooted trees damaged a cemetery but no habitable structures were damaged. Based on visible damage, maximum winds likely reached 110 mph in the tornado. The tornado touched down in a remote area and the only access was via Highway 2009, thus tornado specifics are limited to what could be observed from the road and information obtained from a local land owner. |
| August 2002 | Hail | Helton | - | Reported by Beech Fork Elementary School. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warbranch | 3.2 miles | 25 | |
| Mozelle | 3.4 miles | 14 | |
| Spruce Pine | 3.6 miles | 25 | |
| Upper Laurel Fork (historical) | 3.8 miles | 25 | |
| Chappell | 4.5 miles | 14 | |
| Lewis Creek | 4.6 miles | 25 | |
| Saylor | 5.3 miles | 25 | |
| Napier | 6.0 miles | 25 |
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 Helton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14690582 | 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 512641. 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.











