Elma, New York
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Elma town. It lies in ZIP code area 14059. It stands on Pond Brook. The Survey maps it on the Orchard Park quadrangle.
Then and now
1905 to 1984The same ground, surveyed 79 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1905 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 21 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.
- 1905 USGS Depew quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1948 USGS Depew quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1950 USGS Orchard Park quadrangle1:24000
- 1960 USGS Buffalo quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Buffalo quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Orchard Park quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1967 USGS Buffalo quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Buffalo quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Buffalo quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
262 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 262 fires within 5 miles of Elma between 2000 and 2020, burning about 116 acres in total. 30 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/undetermined | 146 |
| Natural | 30 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 27 |
| Smoking | 21 |
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 8 September 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 6 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 5 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 30 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 3 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 21 September 2004 | Smoking | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 20 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
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 Elma: 1 producer. All of them 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster Dredge E | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
14 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elma in 14 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood, 1 flash 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2008 | Flood | Elma | $50,000 | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $20,000 | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Elma | $15,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $12,000 | no account filed |
| November 2017 | Flood | Elma | $10,000 | Buffalo Creek at Gardenville crested at 7.83 feet at 3:15 AM on the 6th (Flood Stage is 7 feet). |
| August 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $10,000 | Law enforcement reported trees down by thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $8,000 | no account filed |
| September 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $8,000 | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $8,000 | no account filed |
| September 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $2,000 | Trees and wires were reported down. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $1,000 | Trees downed in Elma. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $1,000 | A tree was downed into power lines and was blocking the road. |
| April 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Elma | $500 | A tree was downed in Elma. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elma Center | 1.5 miles | 21 | |
| Spring Brook Station | 2.3 miles | 21 | |
| Blossom | 2.8 miles | 21 | |
| Spring Brook | 2.9 miles | 21 | |
| East Lancaster | 3.1 miles | 19 | |
| Jamison Road | 3.3 miles | 19 | |
| Lancaster | 3.8 miles | 19 | |
| East Seneca | 4.0 miles | 21 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 949562. 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.








