BlockBefore

Chatham, New York

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Chatham town. It lies in ZIP code area 12037. It stands on Indian Creek. The Survey maps it on the Chatham quadrangle. 1,529 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 466 feet above sea level.

Chatham within Columbia County

Then and now

1903 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 83 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Chatham, surveyed 1986
Topographic sheet of Chatham, surveyed 1903

On record in Chatham

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 10 records

Population over time

2 figures

Chatham fell from 1,770 to 1,529 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
20101,770
20201,529-241 (-14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 23 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

109 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 109 fires within 5 miles of Chatham between 1992 and 2020, burning about 128 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 11 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/undetermined46
Debris and open burning27
Arson/incendiarism11
Natural7
Equipment and vehicle use6
Smoking4
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Recreation and ceremony1

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
27 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
23 September 2010Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
19 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
15 September 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
25 August 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
16 August 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
15 August 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
12 August 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Columbia County

Storms near this place

54 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chatham in 54 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 38 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 5 hail, 3 lightning. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2008Flash FloodChatham$45,000Several roads were closed in various portions of Columbia County due to flash flooding from very heavy rainfall.||In Hillsdale, Rodman, Wolf Hill, and Pumpkin Roads were closed due to significant flooding. A high volume of water, seven feet deep and backed up over a 20 acre swamp, was believed to have burst from a beaver dam, sending a cascade of water down Wolf Hill Road.||In addition, School Street in Chatham was also closed due to flooding.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindChatham$15,000no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindChatham$10,000no account filed
July 2022LightningNorth Chatham$5,000A suspected lightning strike split a tree in half which then fell onto a home causing damage on Eberle Road.
June 1996Thunderstorm WindChatham$5,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindChatham$5,000no account filed
July 1994Thunderstorm WindChatham$5,000no account filed
August 1995Thunderstorm WindChatham$4,000no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham$2,000no account filed
August 1996Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham$2,000no account filed
July 2014LightningOld Chatham$1,000A lightning strike was reported to have downed wires across Albany Turnpike in Chatham.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindChatham-A local 911 call center reported a tree and wires down on Slate Hill Road at Route 66 in Ghent.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-Wires were downed along Route 203 near Route 32 in Chatham.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-A tree and wires were downed along Route 203 near Crestview Drive near Niverville.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-Tree and wire damage was reported along Little Lake Road near Route 203 near North Chatham.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-Tree and wire damage was reported along Jefferson Hill Road near Route 23 near Malden Bridge.
June 2023HailChatham-One inch hail fell in Chatham.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindChatham-Trees and wires were reported down in multiple locations in the Town of Chatham.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindChatham-A trained spotter reported an estimated thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindChatham-A tree was snapped and came down on wires connected to a residential home.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindChatham-Trees were reported down at multiple locations in Chatham.
March 2022Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-A utility pole and power lines were reported down on East Shore Drive.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindOld Chatham-Trees were reported down on Rock City Road as well as County Route 13 near Spath Street in the town of Chatham.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindChatham-A tree was reported down on Elm Street near Chatham.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindEast Chatham-Trees and wires were downed along the Albany Turnpike and Decker Street in Chatham.
July 2021Flash FloodChatham-State Route 66 at the intersection of Dardess Drive was flooded.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindChatham-Two large trees were downed in Chatham.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-Route 203 was closed due to a tree downed on wires.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindChatham-Trees were downed in several locations throughout Columbia County.
August 2018Flash FloodChatham-Route 66 was closed in Village Center due to heavy rain.
August 2018Flash FloodChatham-State Route 66 was closed at Payn Ave due to flooding.
August 2018Flash FloodChatham-State Route 66 was closed to Highbridge Road due to flooding.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindChatham-Numerous wires down in Ghent.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-Trees and power lines were reported down on Electric Park Road on the east side of Kinderhook Lake in Niverville as a result of thunderstorm winds.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindOld Chatham-Trees were reported down on County Route 13 in the town of Chatham as a result of thunderstorm winds.
July 2015HailNorth Chatham-Nickel size hail was reported during a thunderstorm at 433 Rapp Road North in the town of Kinderhook.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-Trees and wires were downed at the intersection of Round Lake Road and County Route 28B in the hamlet of Niverville as a result of thunderstorm winds.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-Trees and utility poles were downed near a farm located at 433 Rapp Road North in the town of Kinderhook as a result of thunderstorm winds.
July 2015Funnel CloudChatham-A funnel cloud was spotted during a thunderstorm from the front of a supermarket to the north of Ghent. The funnel cloud never reached the ground.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindOld Chatham-Trees and power lines were reported down on Hamilton Lane in the town of Chatham as a result of thunderstorm winds.
May 2013HailChatham-A spotter reported half dollar size hail fell from a thunderstorm in Chatham.
October 2013Thunderstorm WindChatham-Numerous trees and wires were reported down in Chatham as a result of thunderstorm winds.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindChatham-Trees and wires were reported down in Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds.
June 2011HailEast Chatham-Half dollar size hail was reported during a thunderstorm approximately 2 miles west-northwest of Canaan. The hail broke some windows.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-A tree was reported down on a property in North Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindChatham-Trees were reported down in Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-A large tree and wires were reported down across Bunker Hill Road in North Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-An estimated wind gust of 65 mph was reported by a storm chaser during a thunderstorm in Niverville. Also, a tree was reported down on wires.
July 2009FloodChatham-A roadway was flooded at Elm Street and Payne Avenue in Chatham due to heavy rainfall.
July 2009Flash FloodChatham-Heavy rain resulted in flash flooding in Chatham at the intersection of Elm Street and Payne Avenue.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindChatham-Trees were reported down in Chatham as a result of strong thunderstorm winds.
May 2007Thunderstorm WindNorth Chatham-Trees and wires were reported down from thunderstorm winds on Route 32 in North Chatham.
June 2004LightningChatham-Telephone outages due to lightning strikes.
June 2002HailChatham-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Columbia 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
Buckleyville1.4 miles23
Arnolds Mill1.6 miles23
Moorhouse Corner1.6 miles23
Ghent2.7 miles23
Rock City2.9 miles21
Golden Acres3.0 miles21
Spencertown3.8 miles23
Chatham Center3.9 miles21

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 ChathamAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1000105The 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 946448. 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.