BlockBefore

Stanford, Kentucky

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Stanford census division. It lies in ZIP code area 40484. It stands on Saint Asaph Creek. The Survey maps it on the Stanford quadrangle. 3,640 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 942 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Stanford within Lincoln County

On record in Stanford

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 12 of 15 shown

Every listing in Lincoln County

Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Stanford grew from 3,487 to 3,640 between 2010 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.

YearPeople Change
20103,487
20203,640+153 (+4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 13 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,

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.

Colonel William Whitley House, Stanford-Crab Orchard Pike, Stanford, Lincoln County, KY
Colonel William Whitley House, Stanford-Crab Orchard Pike, Stanford, Lincoln County, KY
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

17 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Stanford between 1998 and 2019, burning about 87 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Debris and open burning3
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony2
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
6 September 2010Debris and open burning20 acresKentucky Division of ForestryLANDFILL
23 September 2019Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryHAZZLETT HOLLOW
29 June 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKentucky Division of ForestryHOLE IN TH
8 April 2013Arson/incendiarism40 acresKentucky Division of ForestrySOUTH FORK
5 April 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
3 April 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
2 April 2010Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
13 April 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreKentucky Division of ForestrySKY LINE CEMETERY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lincoln County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Stanford: 3 prospects. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Fire Clay (Refractory). 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
Eastside Roadcut Clay BedFire Clay (Refractory)Prospect
Roadcut Clay BedFire Clay (Refractory)Prospect
Westside Roadcut Clay BedFire Clay (Refractory)Prospect

Every working recorded in Lincoln County

Storms near this place

39 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Stanford in 39 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 30 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 3 flash flood, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 death. 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
May 2010Flash FloodStanford1 killed, $30,000Heavy rains caused flash flooding of the Hanging Fork River on KY 300 near Stanford. One person died when a van with multiple passengers was swept off the road into the river. The driver of the van exited the vehicle and climbed onto the roof. He then lost his grip and fell into the rushing water. M47VE.
February 2011Tornado (EF1)Stanford$100,000An NWS storm survey confirmed an EF-1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph touched down about a mile southwest of Stanford. It traveled southeast damaging the middle school complex on Highway 27 about a mile south of Stanford. The tornado continued to damage large barns and out buildings as well as snap trees until it lifted about 2.1 miles northwest of Crab Orchard.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindStanford$15,000The Lincoln County emergency manager reported trees down in the city and that a tin roof was blown off a home due to severe thunderstorm winds.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindStanford$10,000no account filed
May 2016Thunderstorm WindStanford$6,000The emergency manager reported trees and a few power lines down. Also nickel size hail fell.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindStanford$5,000Trees and power lines were blown down. A tree limb was blown on to a police cruiser.
August 1999Thunderstorm WindStanford$5,000Trees down. One home was damaged.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindStanford$2,000A tree was blown on to a car on Kentucky Highway 3245.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindStanford-A tree was blown down onto a house and went through the roof on Spring Valley Drive in Stanford.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindStanford-Power lines were blown down along the 300 block of Anderson Heights in Stanford.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindStanford-Power lines were downed near the intersection of Danville Avenue and Lee Drive in Stanford.
September 2024Thunderstorm WindStanford-A few trees and large tree limbs were downed in Stanford.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindStanford-A tree and power lines were blown down on Danville Avenue between Portman Avenue and Maxwell Street.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindStanford-Trees and power lines were reported down near Stanford and western portions of the county.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindStanford-State officials reported trees down in the area due to severe thunderstorm winds.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindStanford-Trained spotters reported trees down in the area.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindStanford-Trees were reported down in the city of Stanford due to severe thunderstorm winds.
May 2014Thunderstorm WindStanford-Local law enforcement reported trees down throughout the county. At 925 pm EDT, the Kentucky Mesonet 4 miles northeast of Stanford measured a 51 mph wind gust.
March 2012Flash FloodStanford-Flash Flooding caused by the training of several storms briefly closed 3rd Street in Stanford.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindStanford-A spotter reported trees down around Stanford.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindStanford-Trees were blown down county-wide. A roof was also blown off a trailer.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindStanford-Numerous trees were blown down.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindStanford-Trees were downed in Stanford and just west of Stanford on Hatcher Road.
June 2009Flash FloodStanford-Some roads were covered with water in the city.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindStanford-Trees were downed.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindStanford-Trees were downed.
April 2000Thunderstorm WindStanford-Several trees were downed.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindStanford-Several trees down as a squall line moved through.
January 2006HailStanford-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindStanford-no account filed
July 2004HailStanford-no account filed
July 2004HailStanford-no account filed
June 2001HailStanford-no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindStanford-no account filed
October 2001Thunderstorm WindStanford-no account filed
November 2000Thunderstorm WindStanford-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindStanford-no account filed
June 1997HailStanford-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindStanford-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lincoln County

Newspapers printed here

18,016 digitised pages

5 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 4,048 issues, 18,016 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

NewspaperPublished
The Interior Journal1872 to 1881
Semi-Weekly Interior Journal1881 to 1905
The Interior Journal1905 to 1910
The Stanford Interior Journal1911 to 1912
The Interior Journal1912 to 1984

What the paper printed

80,121 words

Front pages of the local paper, read from the Library of Congress scans: 23 issues spread across its run from 1872 to 1918, 80,121 words in total. Each is reproduced on its own page, exactly as the recogniser returned it.

These pages read less well than anything else here, and the number is worth stating: about three words in four come through cleanly, against nine in ten for the building records. An 1896 broadsheet sets eight-point type in seven columns on microfilm, which is the hardest thing in this archive to read by machine. We tested our own recognisers against the Library's and they were not better, so the Library's text is what appears, with the wholly unreadable columns removed. Read it as a guide to what the paper covered, and follow the link to the scan before quoting anything.

IssuePaper Length
1872-03-08The Interior Journal2,703 words
1872-05-10The Interior Journal5,647 words
1872-07-12The Interior Journal5,054 words
1872-09-06The Interior Journal5,759 words
1872-11-08The Interior Journal3,512 words
1881-12-20Semi-Weekly Interior Journal2,694 words
1881-12-27Semi-Weekly Interior Journal4,024 words
1881-12-30Semi-Weekly Interior Journal3,475 words
1905-04-04Semi-Weekly Interior Journal2,571 words
1905-05-26The Interior Journal3,123 words
1905-07-18The Interior Journal3,549 words
1905-09-12The Interior Journal3,394 words
1905-11-02The Interior Journal3,264 words
1910-12-27The Interior Journal3,965 words
1911-03-14The Stanford Interior Journal2,097 words
1911-08-04The Stanford Interior Journal2,077 words
1911-10-17The Stanford Interior Journal2,121 words
1912-03-22The Stanford Interior Journal3,731 words
1912-05-17The Interior Journal1,166 words
1912-07-12The Interior Journal5,164 words
1912-09-03The Interior Journal2,392 words
1912-10-29The Interior Journal3,957 words
1918-11-15The Interior Journal4,682 words

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
Harmon Heights0.7 miles13
Morgan Manor Addition1.1 miles13
Rowland1.7 miles13
West Lynn (historical)2.1 miles13
Boneyville2.4 miles13
Logantown2.7 miles13
Mount Zenia (historical)3.6 miles12
Blue Lick3.7 miles8

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 StanfordAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q951131The 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 504254. 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.