Load, Kentucky
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1926 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Tygarts Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41144. It stands on Cub Run. The Survey maps it on the Load quadrangle. It stands 577 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 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.
- 1926 USGS Greenup quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1926 USGS Greenup quadrangle1:48000
- 1930 USGS Greenup quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Load quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Ironton quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
136 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 136 fires within 5 miles of Load between 1997 and 2020, burning about 2,530 acres in total. None started naturally. 36 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 | 50 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 36 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 18 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 August 2012 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | STOCKHOLM |
| 12 August 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 3.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 15 July 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 30 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 7 June 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | WHITTIER RD |
| 24 June 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Kentucky Division of Forestry | ALCORN ROA |
| 22 June 1999 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 8 May 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 7 May 1997 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Load: 5 past producers. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradley Mines | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Hannah Clay Co. Mine | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Horner Clay Mine | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Howland Tract Mine | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Madden Mine | Clay | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
12 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Load in 12 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 1 hail, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | Tornado (EF1) | Load | $20,000 | An EF1 tornado touched down on a hillside south of Little White Oak Road uprooting several trees. The tornado then traveled north across a newly mowed hay field with a convergent pattern evident in the mowed hay, then impacted a house and garage. The tornado tore off a large section of the roof of the home and destroyed the adjacent garage. Residents of the home witnessed the tornado as it was moving across the hay field toward the house and were able to take shelter. The tornado caused additional tree damage as it continued north up a ridge and then onto Cub Run Road. |
| June 2021 | Flash Flood | Load | $10,000 | South of the town of Load, White Oak Road was washed out due to flooding. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Load | $4,000 | Several trees and power lines were downed with dime sized hail covering the ground in the town of Load. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Load | $3,000 | A few trees were blown down near Route 23 in Worthington. More trees were downed onto Osborne Cemetery Road. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Load | $3,000 | A barn was damaged along Route 2070. |
| October 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Load | $2,000 | Several large trees were blown down. |
| April 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Load | $2,000 | Trees fell onto power lines along Route 7. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Load | $1,000 | A few trees were blown down. |
| April 2024 | Flood | Load | $500 | Water and debris spread over sections of Cub Run Road. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Load | $250 | A downed tree blocked portions of State Route 7 in Load. |
| February 2025 | Flood | Load | - | Water rose over the road at the intersection of State Route 7 and Osbourne Cemetery Road. |
| May 2014 | Hail | Load | - | Hail fell that was as large as quarters. |
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.
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 Load | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q6663268 | 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 496921. 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.






