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Big Flats, New York

32 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1895 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Big Flats town. It lies in ZIP code area 14814. It stands on Winfield Creek. The Survey maps it on the Big Flats quadrangle. 5,555 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 902 feet above sea level.

Big Flats within Chemung County

Then and now

1895 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 97 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Big Flats, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Big Flats, surveyed 1895

On record in Big Flats

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Big Flats grew from 5,277 to 5,555 between 2010 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
20105,277
20205,555+278 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 32 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

205 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 205 fires within 5 miles of Big Flats between 1992 and 2020, burning about 282 acres in total. 14 started naturally. 27 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/undetermined77
Debris and open burning45
Arson/incendiarism27
Natural14
Smoking14
Equipment and vehicle use10
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Recreation and ceremony6
Misuse of fire by a minor4

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
7 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
4 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
30 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
3 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
24 September 2020Recreation and ceremony2.4 acresFire Department of New YorkNA
23 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
19 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
18 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Chemung County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Big Flats: 4 producers, 3 past producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
E.R. Wolcott Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
East Corning PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
East Corning PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
East Corning PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Janoski's PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Rhinehart Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Rhinehart Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Chemung County

Storms near this place

25 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Flats in 25 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 15 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 4 hail, 1 lightning. The reports record 4 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2002Thunderstorm WindBig Flats4 hurt, $50,000Strong thunderstorm winds took down a tree on church Street in Elmira. The snapped off 6 feet from the ground. The tree landed on a car parked in a driveway. Four people in the station wagon suffered only minor scrapes from glass when the tree landed on the rear of the car. Musical equipment in the back was smashed. In Big Flats it took down several large trees along Route 352. Some of the trees took down utility lines. A large produce stand was flipped. 2100 customers lost power in Chemung County and adjacent Steuben County.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$50,000Thunderstorm winds blew down a large tree crushing an SUV and damaging a roof.
June 2005LightningBig Flats$50,000Lightning hit the Ruby Tuesday restaurant at the Arnot Mall in Big Flats. The lightning lifted the roof off the building, shut off the electricity, and burned out the air conditioning unit. The smoke from the unit and the power outage temporarily closed the mall.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$50,000Thunderstorm winds downed trees and wires in Big Flats, Horseheads, Elmira, and Southport. A tree fell onto a house in Big Flats. Also in Big Flats a trailer was blown off its foundation.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$30,000Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and wires in Big Flats, Elmira and Elmira Heights. Elmira Corning Regional Airport ASOS measured a 62 mph gust. Elmira Heights had trees come down on wires, railroad tracks, and roads.
August 2013Flash FloodBig Flats$20,000Significant flash flooding was occurring with Sing Sing Road underwater near the airport.
June 2005Flash FloodBig Flats$20,000Slow moving thunderstorms with heavy rain caused flash flooding. In Big Flats roads and bridges were flooded. In Southport several roads were flooded.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$10,000Thunderstorm winds blew down utility poles and wires.
April 2011Flash FloodBig Flats$10,000Route 352 was washed out due to flash flooding.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$5,000Strong thunderstorm winds brought down trees on Harris Hill Road.
August 2018Flash FloodBig Flats$5,000Flash flooding damaged and closed Route 352 in Big Flats.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$5,000Trees were blown down.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$5,000Trees were blown down in Big Flats, Horseheads and Alpine.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$3,000Strong thunderstorms winds knocked down trees and wires.
April 1996Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$3,000no account filed
July 2007Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$2,000Several trees were blown down.
August 2024Flash FloodBig Flats$1,000Interstate 86 was flooded near Exit 51.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$1,000Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down wires onto a road.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindBig Flats$1,000Wires were taken down on Chambers Road.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindBig Flats-Wires were knocked down.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindBig Flats-Storm spotters reported that trees were blown down along Routes 352 and 64. A lightning strike also casued a power interuption at a local store.
May 2020HailBig Flats-no account filed
June 2008HailBig Flats-no account filed
August 2007HailBig Flats-no account filed
June 2002HailBig Flats-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Chemung 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
Harris Hill Manor3.4 miles32
Fisherville3.8 miles32
Golden Glow Heights5.0 miles32
Collingwood5.1 miles32
Tompkins Corners5.3 miles32
Hoffman Plaza Housing Project6.1 miles32
Elmira Heights6.2 miles32
Pioneer Village6.3 miles32

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 Big FlatsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3461607The 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 943883. 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.