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Laurens, New York

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Laurens town. It lies in ZIP code area 13796. It stands on Lake Brook. The Survey maps it on the Mount Vision quadrangle. 185 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,112 feet above sea level.

Laurens within Otsego County

Then and now

1910 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 76 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Laurens, surveyed 1986
Topographic sheet of Laurens, surveyed 1910

Population over time

2 figures

Laurens fell from 263 to 185 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
2010263
2020185-78 (-30%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 18 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

56 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 56 fires within 5 miles of Laurens between 1992 and 2018, burning about 47 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 10 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/undetermined25
Arson/incendiarism10
Debris and open burning9
Smoking3
Natural3
Equipment and vehicle use3
Recreation and ceremony2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
5 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
5 September 2005Debris and open burning1.0 acresFire Department of New Yorknot named
3 September 2007Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
2 September 2013Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
17 September 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
6 August 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
6 July 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
21 July 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Otsego County

Storms near this place

16 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Laurens in 16 storm reports between 1998 and 2023: 7 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 3 hail, 1 tornado. 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
May 1998Tornado (F3)Laurens3 hurt, $800,000A supercell thunderstorm became tornadic as it crossed southern portions of the county around 6:30 pm EDT. The storm cut nearly a 5 mile path from Laurens eastward into Milford township. This twister incurred major damage to heavily forested areas. Thousands of trees were laid out with the width of damage varying up to nearly a half mile in spots. Trees were blown over in a chaotic and almost circular pattern as viewed from aerial damage surveys. Several homes within the path of the twister also sustained heavy damage. In the town of Laurens, a well built home was nearly destroyed with only the back and a portion of the side wall left in tact. Many local roads were closed for up to 3 days as fallen trees made them completely impassable. This included portions of routes 12 and 44. The cell appeared to weaken as it approached Interstate 88 just east of Milford. County emergency officials estimated damage totals in excess of three quarters of a million dollars from this twister. Most of it stemmed from deforestation, repair of utility poles, and other repairs to homes and public structures. Three minor injuries were sustained from falling tree limbs and flying debris.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindLaurens1 hurt, $2,000Numerous trees were blown down in the town of Laurens. One tree fell on a golf cart, injuring one person.
June 2021Flash FloodLaurens$10,000Water over the bridge across Lake Brook on Factory Grounds Road.
September 2018Flash FloodLaurens$10,000A road was washed out near Pool Brook Road and County Route 11.
September 2018Flash FloodWest Laurens$10,000Flash flooding closed Russell Hill Road and Naylors Corner Road.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindLaurens$10,000A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm produced severe winds and knocked over numerous trees and wires.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindLaurens$10,000Trees and wires were blown down.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindLaurens$5,000Strong winds knocked down multiple trees along County Highway 12.
June 2021Flash FloodLaurens$3,000Deep water was flowing rapidly across Highway 12 near Route 12A. Roads closed in the area.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindLaurens$1,000Trees and wires were blown down.
June 2008HailLaurens-Penny size hail was also reported.
April 2000Flash FloodLaurens-Route 23 and route 80 flooded.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindLaurens-Several trees downed.
June 2008HailWest Laurens-no account filed
June 2008HailLaurens-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindLaurens-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Otsego 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
Mount Vision3.7 miles18
West Oneonta4.3 miles18
Fall Bridge4.3 miles18
West Laurens4.3 miles16
West End5.0 miles18
Milford Center5.4 miles19
Otsdawa5.5 miles15
Oneonta5.5 miles18

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 LaurensAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3461791The 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 955097. 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.