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Sullivan, Kentucky

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1909 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Sturgis census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42459. It lies near Carding Machine Hill. The Survey maps it on the Blackford quadrangle. It stands 374 feet above sea level.

Sullivan within Union County

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.

Fires near this place

11 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Sullivan between 1999 and 2016, burning about 84 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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
Recreation and ceremony3
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Arson/incendiarism1
Debris and open burning1

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
18 September 1999Misuse of fire by a minor2.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
4 March 2010Railroad operations and maintenance4.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
30 March 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
28 March 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
25 March 2001Arson/incendiarism50 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
23 March 2014Railroad operations and maintenance2.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryRT.365
21 March 2012Recreation and ceremony3.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestrySWINGSET
15 November 2016Debris and open burning2.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryDAVE MILLER ROAD FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Union County

Storms near this place

6 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sullivan in 6 storm reports between 2002 and 2025: 2 hail, 2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 1 injury. 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
April 2024Tornado (EF1)Sullivan1 hurt, $130,000An EF-1 tornado struck near the community of Sullivan in southern Union County during the early morning hours. The tornado began near the intersection of US Hwy 60 and Sullivan Road, where a large farm outbuilding was severely damaged. After passing through a farm field, the tornado did roof damage to two homes on Cowan Road. Further east along KY-109, the tornado snapped several large trees at their base. One tree fell onto a double-wide manufactured home, where falling debris struck and injured the head of its occupant. The tornado dissipated very shortly thereafter. Peak winds were estimated at 105 mph.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindSullivan$20,000Thunderstorm downdraft winds caused a tree to fall onto a vacant home in Sullivan.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindSullivan$10,000A tree was snapped, and a house lost some shingles.
June 2014Tornado (EF1)Sullivan$4,000The tornado moved through a partially wooded area southeast of Sturgis along the Union/Webster County line. Several trees were snapped or uprooted. Peak winds were estimated near 110 mph. The tornado continued moving southeast into Webster County.
May 2025HailSullivan-Quarter size hail was estimated near Sullivan.
May 2002HailSullivan-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Union 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
Hazel2.6 miles14
Eberly (historical)3.7 miles14
Sturgis4.0 miles14
Grangertown4.9 miles24
Pride5.1 miles14
Kern Orchard5.6 miles14
Bordley5.8 miles13
Arnold5.9 miles14

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 SullivanAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7636370The 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 504720. 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.