Norton Branch, Kentucky
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Grayson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41168. It stands on Norton Branch. The Survey maps it on the Rush quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 15 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.
- 1903 USGS Kenova quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1904 USGS Kenova quadrangle1:125000
- 1953 USGS Rush quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1971 USGS Rush quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1982 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
148 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 148 fires within 5 miles of Norton Branch between 1997 and 2020, burning about 2,462 acres in total. None started naturally. 35 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 | 42 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 35 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 30 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 September 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 11 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 18 August 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 13 August 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 5 July 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 22 May 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 2 May 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 1 May 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 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 Norton Branch: 1 prospect, 1 producer. 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Vista Clay Bed | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Princess Mine Big Run | Clay | Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Norton Branch in 5 storm reports between 2015 and 2025: 3 flash flood, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2015 | Flash Flood | Norton Branch | $15,000 | Streams such as Williams Creek, Straight Creek, and Glancy Fork overflowed and blocked adjacent roads in the southeastern portion of the county. |
| May 2017 | Flash Flood | Norton Branch | $2,000 | Williams Creek and some of its smaller tributaries came out of their banks, causing floding along State Highway 1654 west of Rush. |
| March 2022 | Flood | Norton Branch | $500 | High water was observed along Kentucky State Highway 1654 in the community of Grant. |
| September 2024 | Flash Flood | Norton Branch | $250 | Dawson Creek rose out of its banks and caused flooding along Williams Creek Road in Norton Branch. |
| February 2025 | Flood | Norton Branch | - | Street flooding was observed near Williams Creek Road west of Rush. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grant | 1.2 miles | 15 | |
| Music | 1.8 miles | 15 | |
| Williams Creek | 3.2 miles | 15 | |
| Stinson | 4.1 miles | 15 | |
| Denton | 5.4 miles | 15 | |
| Straight Creek | 5.7 miles | 15 | |
| Mount Savage | 6.4 miles | 15 | |
| Beech Grove | 6.6 miles | 15 |
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 Norton Branch | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q48840487 | 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 499534. 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.






