BlockBefore

Richmond Hill, New York

35 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the borough of Queens. It lies in ZIP code area 11418. The Survey maps it on the Jamaica quadrangle.

Richmond Hill within Queens County

Then and now

1889 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 105 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Richmond Hill, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Richmond Hill, surveyed 1889

Compare 1889 against another survey:

On record in Richmond Hill

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

Topographic sheets covering this place

17 surveys from 35 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

2,926 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2,926 fires within 5 miles of Richmond Hill between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,362 acres in total. 161 started naturally. 141 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/undetermined2171
Natural161
Smoking148
Arson/incendiarism141
Misuse of fire by a minor101
Equipment and vehicle use74
Debris and open burning74
Recreation and ceremony40
Power generation/transmission/distribution12
Fireworks2
Railroad operations and maintenance2

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
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
9 September 2010Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2005Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresGateway National Recreation AreaFOUNTAIN1

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Queens County

Storms near this place

26 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Richmond Hill in 26 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 14 flash flood, 6 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 2 hail. The reports record 7 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 1998Thunderstorm WindRichmond Hill3 hurtno account filed
July 2020LightningRichmond Hill2 hurtTwo people were hospitalized after being struck by lightning in Charles Drew Park.
August 2004LightningRichmond Hill2 hurtTwo children were struck by lightning at Jamaica Mall. Both were hospitalized with injuries.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindRichmond Hill$11,000Tree on a house at 82-36 Beverly Road.
July 2016LightningRichmond Hill$10,000A home was struck by lightning at 94-54 118th Street just south of Richmond Hill.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindRichmond Hill$10,000Dozens of trees and tree limbs were reported down across Northern Queens including in the Flushing, Astoria, and Corona sections.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindRichmond Hill$6,000Numerous trees were reported down from Richmond Hill to Kew Gardens.
August 2025Flash FloodRichmond Hill-Intersection closed due to flooding at Van Wyck Expressway and Archer Avenue.
September 2021Flash FloodRichmond Hill-Water was entering a home in Jamaica, Queens.
September 2021Flash FloodRichmond Hill-All eastbound lanes of the Grand Central Parkway were closed due to flooding at the Van Wyck Expressway in Jamaica, Queens.
August 2021Flash FloodRichmond Hill-Tuskegee Airmen Way in Jamaica, Queens was closed due to flooding.
August 2017Flash FloodRichmond Hill-A portion of the service road for the Van Wyck Expressway was closed due to flooding in Kew Gardens, Queens. In addition, two lanes were blocked due to flooding on the Van Wyck Expressway northbound approaching the Grand Central Parkway. Only one lane remained passable.
July 2016Flash FloodRichmond Hill-The intersection of 133rd Avenue and 114th Place in South Ozone Park was closed due to flooding.
August 2012Flash FloodRichmond Hill-All lanes were blocked with several disabled vehicles due to flooding on the eastbound Grand Central Pkwy. at the Kew Gardens Interchange. All lanes were also blocked due to flooding on the northbound Van Wyck Expressway between JFK Federal Circle and the Grand Central Pkwy.
August 2012Flash FloodRichmond Hill-The westbound Grand Central Pkwy. was closed at the Van Wyck Expy. due to flooding.
July 2012HailRichmond Hill-Quarter size hail was reported just west of Jamaica Station.
August 2012Flash FloodRichmond Hill-The Long Island Expressway at Francis Lewis Blvd. and the Van Wyck Expressway southbound at Hillside Ave. were both closed due to flooding.
September 2012Flash FloodRichmond Hill-All lanes of the Grand Central Pkwy. were closed at the Van Wyck Expy. due to flooding.
September 2010Thunderstorm WindRichmond Hill-A National Weather Service Storm Survey verified the occurance of a macroburst in Queens. The path extended from Middle Village east across Forest Hills.||In Forest Hills, at MacDonald Park, a field of trees were sheared off which completely demolished the park. Many whole trees and large branches were downed in a divergent pattern. This was a clear signature of macroburst wind damage.||The area of the macroburst was bounded by Queens Boulevard and 69th Road to the northeast near the intersection of Yellowstone Boulevard.||Just southwest of the Long Island Expressway along 63rd Avenue and near the intersections of Reeves Avenue and 146th Street, many huge healthy 36 inch diameter trees fell in nearly the same direction in narrow roads. Downed trees destroyed many cars and made entries to houses impassable. Widespread tree damage made many secondary and tertiary roads impassable.||Many whole trees and large branches were downed near Queens College, along Dartmouth Street and in Forest Hills Garden, and along Park Drive East in Kew Garden Hills.
July 2009HailRichmond Hill-Penny Size hail was reported in Jamaica.
June 2008Flash FloodRichmond Hill-Water blocking all lanes eastbound on the Grand Central Parkway at exit 13.
June 2008Flash FloodRichmond Hill-The Kew Gardens Interchange (where the Van Wyck Expressway, Grand Central Pkwy and Jackie Robinson Pkwy all intersect), was closed in all directions with occupied vehicles stuck in rising water. Mesonet sources in Forest Hills and Rego Park reported storm total rainfall of 2.46 inches and 2.18 inches respectively.
June 2008Flash FloodRichmond Hill-Occupied vehicles were stuck in rising water at the intersection of Queens Blvd. and the Van Wyck Expressway.
April 2007Flash FloodRichmond Hill-no account filed
September 2006Thunderstorm WindRichmond Hill-no account filed
August 2001FloodRichmond Hill-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Queens 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
Brooklyn Manor0.9 miles35
Kew Gardens1.0 miles35
Morris Park1.0 miles35
Forest Hills Gardens1.1 miles35
Parkside1.3 miles35
Jamaica1.5 miles35
Forest Hills1.5 miles35
Woodhaven1.6 miles35

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 962479. 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.