Russell, Kentucky
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the Flatwoods-Russell census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41169. It stands on Bear Run. The Survey maps it on the Ironton quadrangle. 3,744 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 646 feet above sea level.
On record in Russell
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Russell Railroad YMCAlisted 2001
Population over time
3 figuresRussell grew from 3,645 to 3,744 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3,645 | |
| 2010 | 3,380 | -265 (-7%) |
| 2020 | 3,744 | +364 (+11%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 17 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.
- 1898 USGS Ironton quadrangle1:62500
- 1900 USGS Ironton quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Ironton quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Ironton quadrangle1:24000
- 1960 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Ironton quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1972 USGS Ironton quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1981 USGS Ironton quadrangle1:100000
- 2002 USGS Ironton quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
209 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 209 fires within 5 miles of Russell between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,533 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 burning | 101 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 41 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 34 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 10 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 9 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7 |
| Other causes | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2007 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 11 acres | Wayne National Forest | WIND FIRE |
| 6 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wayne National Forest | JANIE FIRE |
| 28 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 8.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 24 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wayne National Forest | IRONTON #1 FIRE |
| 20 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wayne National Forest | HANGING ROCK SPUR A |
| 29 August 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wayne National Forest | CABIN |
| 8 July 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Wayne National Forest | HANGING ROCK #1 |
| 28 July 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2.0 acres | Wayne National Forest | OSBORN |
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 Russell: 1 past producer. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ironton Plant Number 85 | Clay | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Russell in 9 storm reports between 2004 and 2024: 5 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Russell | $20,000 | Several trees were blown down. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Russell | $2,000 | A large thirty to forty foot maple tree was blown down on a residence near the town of Russell. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Russell | $500 | Downed trees were observed at Railroad Street. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Russell | $250 | A downed tree blocked Poplar Street in Russell. |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Russell | - | Large branches were snapped off. |
| March 2011 | Hail | Russell | - | no account filed |
| March 2011 | Hail | Russell | - | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Hail | Russell | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Russell | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverview | 0.9 miles | 17 | |
| Flatwoods | 1.1 miles | 17 | |
| Russell Heights | 1.2 miles | 17 | |
| West Russell | 1.6 miles | 17 | |
| Bellefonte | 1.8 miles | 22 | |
| Raceland | 2.3 miles | 17 | |
| Worthington | 2.6 miles | 17 | |
| Melrose | 2.8 miles | 17 |
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 Russell | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2686934 | 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 502497. 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.









