Watauga, Kentucky
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Cumberland City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 42602. The Survey maps it on the Cumberland City quadrangle. It stands 1,050 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 10 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.
- 1954 USGS Cumberland City quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Corbin quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Corbin quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS Cumberland City quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Tompkinsville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
42 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 42 fires within 5 miles of Watauga between 1998 and 2019, burning about 3,283 acres in total. None started naturally. 10 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 | 13 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 10 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 25 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 98 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 20 September 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 150 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | WHIPPOORWILL FIRE |
| 14 September 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 14 September 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 13 September 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 25 June 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 21 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | ROWENEA |
| 7 April 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
4 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Watauga in 4 storm reports between 2011 and 2024: 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watauga | $3,000 | The Clinton County emergency manager reported downed trees on a power line which resulted in 1000 customers without power. |
| September 2024 | Hail | Watauga | - | Half dollar sized hail was reported near Cumberland City. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watauga | - | The Clinton County emergency manager reported downed trees blocked Jones Mill Road near KY 558. |
| March 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Watauga | - | A few trees were blown down. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland City | 0.8 miles | 10 | |
| Narvel | 2.4 miles | 10 | |
| Marlow | 3.1 miles | 10 | |
| Williams Creek (historical) | 3.9 miles | 10 | |
| Nora | 4.1 miles | 10 | |
| Cartwright | 4.5 miles | 10 | |
| Waterview (historical) | 4.5 miles | 11 | |
| Seventy Six | 4.7 miles | 11 |
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 Watauga | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7973021 | 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 509321. 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.




