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Stearns, Kentucky

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Stearns-Whitley City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42647. It lies near American Legion Knoll. The Survey maps it on the Whitley City quadrangle. 1,365 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,339 feet above sea level.

Stearns within McCreary County

On record in Stearns

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 2 records

Population over time

3 figures

Stearns fell from 1,586 to 1,365 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.

YearPeople Change
20001,586
20101,416-170 (-11%)
20201,365-51 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 16 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.

Fires near this place

161 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 161 fires within 5 miles of Stearns between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,978 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 102 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
Arson/incendiarism102
Debris and open burning24
Missing data/not specified/undetermined14
Recreation and ceremony8
Equipment and vehicle use3
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Natural2
Misuse of fire by a minor2

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
9 September 2008Natural5.0 acresDaniel Boone National ForestYAHOO ARCH
9 September 2007Arson/incendiarism13 acresDaniel Boone National ForestARCHER
8 September 2007Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreDaniel Boone National ForestRAILROAD
30 September 2007Debris and open burning150 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
30 September 2007Debris and open burning40 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
27 September 1998Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresDaniel Boone National ForestCOON
24 September 2019Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryHWY 1651
24 September 2005Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresDaniel Boone National ForestPINE KNOT

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in McCreary County

Storms near this place

30 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Stearns in 30 storm reports between 1996 and 2020: 16 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 4 flash flood, 3 heavy rain. 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
September 2018Thunderstorm WindStearns$2,000,000Dispatch reported a couple of very large storage buildings, composed of metal siding and wood framing, were destroyed as severe thunderstorm winds moved through south of Whitley City.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindStearns$15,000Trees and power lines were blown down in Stearns.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindStearns$15,000Three power poles and several trees were blown down on Highway 1363 near Stearns.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindStearns$10,000The superintendent of McCreary county schools reported that the McCreary County Middle sustained damage from the storm. Several ridge caps were torn from the roof of the school and the press box at the football field was completely ripped off the bleachers.
March 2008Thunderstorm WindStearns$10,000Trees were blown down on Highways 1470, 742, and 1045.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindStearns$10,000Numerous large tree limbs the size of a mans upper arm were torn from trees on Pigskin Road by thunderstorm wind gusts.
March 2002Flash FloodStearns$10,000A trained spotter reported 4.3 inches of rain had fallen since March 16. This resulted in repeated episodes of flash flooding and numerous road closures.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindStearns$5,000Two trees were blown down, including one that fell on a truck.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindStearns$2,000Trees and power lines were blown down by thunderstorm winds.
August 2001Flash FloodStearns$2,000Heavy rains brought flooding across the area. Highways 791, 742, and 1651 had to be cleared of debris after water covered the roads. Four to five inch deep ruts were also left in many gravel roads across the area.
November 2010FloodStearns$1,000Rock Creek is out of its banks.
March 2020HailStearns-A citizen observed nickel sized hail in Stearns.
August 2018HailStearns-A trained spotter observed nickel sized hail in Stearns.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindStearns-Trees were blown down and part of a metal roof was blown off of a structure.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindStearns-Multiple trees were blown down in and around Stearns. Hume Street and Golf Course Road were blocked by downed trees at one point. A power pole was snapped off near Golf Course. A garage had its roof blown off and a large sign in town was twisted and blown down. Power outages were reported around the area as well.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindStearns-Small trees were blown down on Hwy 742 a mile and a half southwest of Revelo.
February 2011Heavy RainStearns-The McCreary county emergency manager measured a rainfall amount of 1.59 inches in Stearns.
August 2010Heavy RainStearns-A volunteer weather observer reported that 3.39 inches of rain had fallen in Stearns since 7 am.
August 2010Heavy RainStearns-The McCreary County EM measured 2.77 inches of rain in Stearns between 6 am and 245 pm.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindStearns-Numerous trees and tree limbs down across the roads in Stearns and Revelo.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindStearns-Downed trees reported throughout county. Power lost in western portion of county.
April 2006Thunderstorm WindStearns-A few trees down.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindStearns-Trees were down.
June 2001Flash FloodStearns-Heavy rains caused water to flow over several roads in the area.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindStearns-20 trees reported blown down.
February 2009HailStearns-no account filed
May 2009HailStearns-no account filed
April 2006HailStearns-no account filed
June 1998HailStearns-no account filed
September 1996Flash FloodStearns-no account filed

Every storm recorded in McCreary 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
Revelo1.1 miles16
Smith Town1.5 miles9
Hickory Grove1.7 miles16
Whitley City1.7 miles16
Barthell2.7 miles9
Worley3.0 miles9
Marshes Siding3.1 miles16
Hill Top3.4 miles9

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 StearnsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q547952The 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 515673. 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.

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.