Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
“The Robert Thomas House is a historic house located at 516 Broad St. in Central City, Kentucky. The house was built in 1899 as a model home for an exhibit at the St.”
Wikipedia article Robert Thomas House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 12 National Register listings published here for Muhlenberg County · listed in 1990 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 60 fires within 5 miles of Robert Thomas House between 1997 and 2019, burning about 2,023 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 12 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/undetermined | 21 |
| Debris and open burning | 14 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 8 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 13 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 11 September 2002 | Debris and open burning | 20 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 11 August 2010 | Debris and open burning | 13 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | MAGAZINE |
| 3 July 2012 | Natural | 1.1 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | BIG TREE S |
| 25 July 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 138 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 13 July 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 28 June 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kentucky Division of Forestry | BLIND FIRE |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Central City, the town this property stands in, in 38 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 8 flash flood, 3 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death and 2 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 1997 | Flash Flood | Central City | 1 killed, $300,000 | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | 2 hurt, $30,000 | Multiple large trees and power lines were blown down from the Central City area to near Drakesboro. About 4 miles south of Central City, one tree fell on a mobile home, injuring two people. The injuries were not serious. Numerous trees were down along U.S. Highway 431. |
| August 2022 | Flash Flood | Central City | $150,000 | Numerous streets were closed in Central City, including South 2nd Street and Broad Street. A water rescue was conducted on Taylor Road. A car was submerged. At least three feet of water were inside a home. Homes on Pattontown Drive in Central City were evacuated. Flooding was reported on Highway 175 near the interchange with the West Kentucky Parkway near Graham. Two separate rainfall totals over 6 inches were measured in Central City. Totals of 6.02 and 6.39 inches were measured by separate personal weather stations in Central City between midnight and 7 AM. |
| January 2023 | Flash Flood | Central City | $50,000 | Significant flash flooding was reported. A few water rescues were conducted. Water was in a few residences. Numerous roads were closed due to flooding throughout the county. The state highways that were closed were Kentucky 181, Kentucky 2590, and Kentucky 2533. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches were reported. The highest 24-hour rainfall report in the county was 4.98 inches from a Cocorahs observer near Bancroft. |
| October 2019 | Flash Flood | Central City | $35,000 | Floodwater entered an apartment complex in Greenville. Numerous streets in Greenville were flooded or impassable. Rising water threatened homes in the Central City area. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $30,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous trees and power lines in Central City. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $20,000 | Numerous trees and power lines were down. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $20,000 | Large trees and power lines were blown down. A trained spotter estimated wind gusts around 70 mph. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $15,000 | A number of trees were down throughout the community. |
| October 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $10,000 | Trees were down, and power outages were reported. |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Flash Flood | Central City | $8,000 | Many roads were flooded in Powderly and Central City. Near Greenville, three to four feet of water flooded a farm, and horses had to be evacuated. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $7,000 | Small trees and several large limbs were blown down. A tree was down across the Western Kentucky Parkway just west of the Central City exit. |
| August 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Central City | $7,000 | This small tornado blew down several small trees and limbs in multiple directions along County Road 1011. There were numerous reports of this brief touchdown that snapped trees and damaged a cornfield. Peak winds were estimated near 75 mph. |
| October 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $5,000 | Some tree and shingle damage occurred on the north side of Central City. A trained spotter confirmed wind gusts of around 60 mph. |
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $2,000 | Small tree limbs were broken off in the Greenville and Central City areas. |
| February 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | $2,000 | A trained spotter measured a wind gust to 62 mph. Trees were down along U.S. Highway 431. |
| March 1995 | Hail | Central City | $1,000 | no account filed |
| February 1993 | Hail | Central City | $500 | no account filed |
| February 2025 | Flash Flood | Central City | - | Flash flooding closed a portion of Highway 1379 northeast of Central city. Several other county roads were also closed from Central City to Powderly and Greenville. |
| July 2024 | Flash Flood | Central City | - | The S 2nd St underpass under the West Kentucky Parkway flooded in Central City. A CWOP station in Central City reported 4.48in of rain from 2200-0130CST. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | The Kentucky mesonet site measured a wind gust to 65 mph. |
| September 2021 | Flood | Central City | - | Minor street flooding occurred. |
| June 2020 | Flood | Central City | - | Street flooding was reported. A report was received from the public of 4.50 inches of rain, most of which fell in three hours. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Central City | - | A wind gust to 64 mph was measured at the Kentucky mesonet site six miles north of Greenville, near Central City. |
| April 2016 | Funnel Cloud | Central City | - | A funnel cloud was reported with the supercell thunderstorm that produced golf ball size hail from Bremen eastward. |
| June 2016 | Flood | Central City | - | Street flooding was reported at several locations in Central City. |
| August 2013 | Heavy Rain | Central City | - | Water was reported over some roads in Central City. |
| August 2012 | Heavy Rain | Central City | - | Several roadways and main routes throughout the city had about six inches of water over them. |
| August 2005 | Heavy Rain | Central City | - | Low-lying areas were flooded in Central City. |
| June 2021 | Funnel Cloud | Central City | - | no account filed |
| March 2020 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| March 2016 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Central City | - | no account filed |
| March 1997 | Flash Flood | Central City | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| J. A. Gilman House | 7.0 miles | 2020 | |
| Edward Taylor House | 7.0 miles | 2024 | |
 | North Main Street Historic District | 7.2 miles | 1985 |
 | Martin House | 7.2 miles | 1985 |
| George Short House | 7.2 miles | 1980 | |
| Rice Tobacco Factory | 7.3 miles | 1985 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 90001833 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Muhlenberg County | All 12 listed properties in this county. |
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