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Quicksand, Kentucky

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Hardshell census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41339. It stands on Rose Branch. The Survey maps it on the Quicksand quadrangle. It stands 810 feet above sea level.

Quicksand within Breathitt County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 14 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Photographs

1 photograph, 1940

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Many parents and young people from the school and nearby communities attend the pie and box supper, given by the school to raise money for additional repairs and supplies. Each box or pie is auctioned off to the highest bidder, sometimes bringing a good deal, since the girl's "boyfriend" usually wins and has the privilege of eating it with her afterwards. Quicksand school, Breathitt County, Kentucky
Many parents and young people from the school and nearby communities attend the pie and box supper, given by the school to raise money for additional repairs and supplies. Each box or pie is auctioned off to the highest bidder, sometimes bringing a good deal, since the girl's "boyfriend" usually wins and has the privilege of eating it with her afterwards. Quicksand school, Breathitt County, Kentucky
Wolcott, Marion Post, 1940. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

238 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 238 fires within 5 miles of Quicksand between 1997 and 2020, burning about 14,199 acres in total. None started naturally. 41 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 burning109
Missing data/not specified/undetermined67
Arson/incendiarism41
Recreation and ceremony17
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 1998Smoking1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
7 September 2007Debris and open burning7.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
5 September 2007Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
30 September 2007Debris and open burning4.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
3 September 2007Debris and open burning3.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
3 September 2002Debris and open burning1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
15 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
14 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Breathitt County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Quicksand: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hillside RoadcutClayProspect

Every working recorded in Breathitt County

Storms near this place

22 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Quicksand in 22 storm reports between 2008 and 2026: 11 thunderstorm wind, 5 flood, 2 heavy rain, 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2008Thunderstorm WindQuicksand$8,000Several trees were blown down across Highway 1098 by thunderstorm wind gusts.
August 2020Flash FloodQuicksand$5,000Heavy rains caused water to rise quickly at the Happy Church in the Quicksand community just outside of Jackson. An NWS employee was on site and said it eventually surrounded a portion of a home on the property, and then began seeping through a ground-level door into the walkout basement, flooding the basement. The nearby mesonet reported 2.30 inches of rainfall during this event.
January 2010FloodQuicksand$5,000Kentucky Highway 1098 washed out at Smiths Branch about 2 miles up from Highway 15.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindQuicksand$2,000Trees were blown down in Quicksand.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindQuicksand$1,000A retired NWS employee reported a tree blown down onto power lines about a mile up Lick Branch Road resulting in a power outage.
March 2015FloodQuicksand$1,000South Fork Rd, or KY 1098, was flooded and impassable.
July 2015Flash FloodQuicksand$1,000A water rescue was attempted along Smith Branch Road near Saldee. The car was driven into swift water and became stranded. The driver was rescued without injury. The car ended up being submerged up to its headlights by 2 to 3 feet of water with the water around it still rising.
December 2013FloodQuicksand$1,000South Fork Creek was over the road at mile marker 2 on KY 1098.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindQuicksand$1,000A tree was blown down on Hwy 1098 between mile markers 1 and 2 at South Fork.
January 2008Thunderstorm WindQuicksand$1,000One tree was blown down onto Route 15 by wind gusts estimated at 61 mph.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindQuicksand-A retired NWS employee reported wind gusts estimated near 60 mph in the vicinity of the Happy Church.
May 2025FloodQuicksand-A photo was shared that showed at least a foot of water over Quicksand Road at the Happy Church in the Quicksand community. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet trucks were manning both sides of the water to deter vehicles from crossing.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindQuicksand-A tree was reported down on KY-1098, about 2 miles from KY-15 near Jackson.
January 2022Heavy RainQuicksand-The Kentucky Mesonet station in Breathitt County (QKSD) measured 3.21 inches of rainfall in a 48-hour period ending at 7am on January 2, 2022.
March 2022Thunderstorm WindQuicksand-Large tree limbs were blown down in near the Happy Church in the Quicksand community.
May 2022HailQuicksand-A NWS employee reported half dollar-sized (1.25 inch) hail near the Happy Church off of Quicksand Rd.
August 2020FloodQuicksand-After heavy rains moved through the area, some parts of KY-1098 were noted having an excess amount of standing water along them. There is a creek that runs along the road and commonly floods the road.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindQuicksand-A wooden shed was blown over at Headstart. A heavy plastic play set was also blown from the playground.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindQuicksand-A mobile home was overturned by thunderstorm wind gusts in the Millers Trailer Court.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindQuicksand-Large limbs were blown down at the Happy Church.
September 2012Heavy RainQuicksand-According to the Quicksand mesonet site, 3.73 inches of rain fell between 545 pm and 910 pm at Quicksand.
May 2017HailQuicksand-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Breathitt County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Kragon1.5 miles14
Portsmouth1.6 miles14
Noctor2.1 miles14
Jackson2.6 miles14
Panhandle2.8 miles14
Haddix2.9 miles13
Lost Creek3.4 miles13
Flintville3.9 miles13

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 QuicksandAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7271757The 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 501479. 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.