Ford River, Michigan
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Ford River Township. It lies in ZIP code area 49829. It stands on Ford River. The Survey maps it on the Ford River quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 8 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 Escanaba quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Escanaba quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Escanaba quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Escanaba quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Escanaba quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Ford River quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
14 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Ford River between 1993 and 2015, burning about 56 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 August 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | WEST ESKY |
| 13 July 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 July 2005 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 July 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 21 May 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 20 May 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 April 2003 | Debris and open burning | 45 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 28 April 1993 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 5.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Ford River: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolomite Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ford River in 5 storm reports between 2000 and 2026: 3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. 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 2026 | Flood | Ford River | $550,000 | County emergency management reported Delta County Airport closed on the 13th due to water over the runways. Power was cut to the VOR facility and water was at least 3 feet deep. At least 4 roads in the city of Escanaba were closed on the 13th. In Rapid River, water over the road closed the US-41 and US-2 intersection. A culvert washout closed County Road 503 in Bay De Noc Township from the 16th to the 17th. Water over the road on County Road 497/GG in Nahma caused the road to be closed from the 17th to the 27th. Drone footage along the Ford River provided by the emergency manager highlighted multiple structures threated, surrounded, or inundated by high water. County emergency manager estimates private property damages around 300 Thousand $USD and the public damages at approximately 250 Thousand $USD. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ford River | $5,000 | The town supervisor reported several trees and wires down across Ford River Township which led to power outages. |
| July 2004 | Hail | Ford River | - | One-inch diameter hail was reported. |
| July 2007 | Hail | Ford River | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Ford River | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Island View | 4.1 miles | 8 | |
| Pine Ridge | 4.4 miles | 8 | |
| Hyde | 5.0 miles | 8 | |
| Escanaba | 6.1 miles | 8 | |
| Narenta | 6.3 miles | 8 | |
| Wells | 7.5 miles | 9 | |
| Soo Hill | 8.1 miles | 9 | |
| North Escabana (historical) | 8.4 miles | 9 |
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 Ford River | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q20657796 | 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 626237. 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.





