Nichols, New York
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Nichols town. It lies in ZIP code area 13812. It stands on Wappasening Creek. The Survey maps it on the Owego quadrangle. 457 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 791 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1903 to 1992The same ground, surveyed 89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Nichols
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 2 records
Nichols High Schoollisted 1996
Platt-Cady Mansionlisted 1976
Population over time
2 figuresNichols fell from 512 to 457 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 512 | |
| 2020 | 457 | -55 (-11%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 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.
- 1903 USGS Owego quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1906 USGS Catatonk quadrangle1:125000
- 1950 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Owego quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1965 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Owego quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1986 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
67 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 67 fires within 5 miles of Nichols between 1999 and 2020, burning about 92 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 5 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 | 25 |
| Debris and open burning | 19 |
| Natural | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 September 2001 | Natural | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 23 August 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 13 August 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | NA |
| 5 July 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Pennsylvania Division of Forest Fire Protection | BIRD |
| 3 July 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 11 July 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 19 June 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 18 June 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Nichols: 5 past producers, 4 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albro Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Barton Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Barton Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| C & C Ready Mix Sand & Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Owego Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Park Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Porter Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Porter Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Porters Sand and Gravel Pit No. 2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
18 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nichols in 18 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 6 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 5 hail, 1 lightning. The reports record 1 injury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2002 | Lightning | Nichols | 1 hurt | Women struck by lightning. |
| September 2011 | Flash Flood | Nichols | $8,000,000 | Catastrophic flash flooding in the Nichols area. Most roads and bridges were severely damaged. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Nichols | $284,000 | Severe flooding occurred throughout the village of Nichols. Major State Route 17 was closed in both directions between Exit 62 and Exit 63 due to bridge erosion. |
| October 2019 | Flash Flood | Nichols | $25,000 | Several roads were reported to be washed out throughout the Village and Town of Nichols. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Nichols | $25,000 | Severe flash flooding along Wappasening Creek was reaching nearby homes and crossing over Old Route 282. Debris was collecting at the bridge and threatening its structural integrity. |
| August 2018 | Flash Flood | Nichols | $15,000 | Wappasening Creek was flooding out Route 282 near the NY/PA border. |
| November 2006 | Flash Flood | Nichols | $10,000 | Numerous roads washed out. |
| November 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nichols | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed trees and wires in Nichols. Winds also uprooted trees along Route 17 from Lounsberry to Owego. |
| March 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nichols | $5,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds brought down a large tree on West River Road. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nichols | $5,000 | Trees and powerlines downed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nichols | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nichols | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nichols | $3,000 | Trees were blown down between Nichols and Lounsberry. |
| June 2023 | Hail | Nichols | - | no account filed |
| September 2011 | Hail | Nichols | - | no account filed |
| September 2011 | Hail | Nichols | - | no account filed |
| September 2011 | Hail | Nichols | - | no account filed |
| September 2011 | Hail | Nichols | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoopers Valley | 1.4 miles | 22 | |
| Smithboro | 2.0 miles | 22 | |
| Tioga Center | 2.6 miles | 21 | |
| Lounsberry | 3.0 miles | 21 | |
| Briggs Hollow | 3.2 miles | 21 | |
| Barton | 4.6 miles | 22 | |
| East Nichols | 4.6 miles | 21 | |
| Litchfield | 5.0 miles | 22 |
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 Nichols | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2452723 | 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 958556. 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.









