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Spencer, New York

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Spencer town. It lies in ZIP code area 14883. It stands on Seelytown Creek. The Survey maps it on the Spencer quadrangle. 719 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 994 feet above sea level.

Spencer within Tioga County

Then and now

1903 to 1992

The 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.

Topographic sheet of Spencer, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Spencer, surveyed 1903

On record in Spencer

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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Spencer fell from 759 to 719 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
2010759
2020719-40 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 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

76 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 76 fires within 5 miles of Spencer between 1992 and 2020, burning about 147 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 8 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/undetermined44
Debris and open burning10
Arson/incendiarism8
Natural4
Recreation and ceremony2
Other causes2
Smoking2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
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
9 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
26 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
26 September 2015Other causesunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
26 September 2015Other causesunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
18 September 2017Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A
12 September 2009Natural1.0 acresFire Department of New Yorknot named
12 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresFire Department of New Yorknot named
12 September 2002Debris and open burning2.0 acresNew York Forest Rangersnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Tioga County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Spencer: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Salt. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
E.C.Kesselring No.1 WellSaltPast Producer
Spencer PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Town of Spencer PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Tioga County

Storms near this place

28 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Spencer in 28 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 17 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 4 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2015Flash FloodNorth Spencer$400,000Flood water was surrounding a house on Hurlbert Hollow Road. Water was also flowing across County Routes 96 and 34.
July 2004Flash FloodSpencer$150,000Thunderstorms with heavy rain caused flash flooding. A bridge on Hulbert Hollow Road in extreme northwest Tioga County in the town of Spencer was washed out. Before the bridge washed out debris piled up against it causing water to back up several feet deep into nearby yards and houses. A house on the corner of Hulbert Hollow Road and Routes 34/96 had several inches of water in the kitchen. The one resident home was evacuated. State Route 34/96 was closed from the village of Spencer to the Tioga and Chemung county line. The Bible Baptist Church and North Spencer Christian Academy had significant damage to the lower level. Up to 67 inches of water was on the floor. 16 bundles of expensive flooring was lost. The flooring was waiting to be installed in the gym. 2 to 4 inches of rain fell.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindSpencer$30,000A line of severe thunderstorms moved across Tioga County knocking down trees in Spencer at 3:15 pm and in Candor at 3:25 pm EDT.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindNorth Spencer$20,000Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down trees and wires.
September 2018Flash FloodNorth Spencer$20,000Flash flooding was occurring over several sections of Route 96. All lanes were closed.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindSpencer$10,000Strong thunderstorm winds brought down numerous trees and wires in Spencer on Route 96.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindSpencer$10,000Trees and wires were blown down.
August 1995Thunderstorm WindSpencer$8,000no account filed
August 2019Thunderstorm WindSpencer$5,000Strong thunderstorm winds brought down power lines in the area.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindSpencer$5,000Strong thunderstorm winds brought down trees along Route 34.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindSpencer$5,000Thunderstorm winds blew trees down.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindSpencer$5,000Numerous trees were blown down.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindNorth Spencer$3,000Outflow winds from nearby storm knocked down two trees on Ithaca Road. One tree fell on wires.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindSpencer$3,000A tree fell onto a house.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindSpencer$2,000Trees down.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindSpencer$1,000A telephone pole was downed.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindSpencer$1,000A large tree was blown down on Route 96 by Halsey Valley Road.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindSpencer-Trees were blown down by strong thunderstorm winds.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindSpencer-Trees were snapped on Route 96 near Halsey Valley Road by thunderstorm winds.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindSpencer-Several trees were toppled from Spencer and Candor in the northwest part of the county to Owego and Apalachin in the southeast section.
January 1998Flash FloodSpencer-Another batch of heavy rain lifted northeastward from Pennsylvania and affected New York's southern tier from late afternoon on the 8th until late that evening. Locally, 0.5 to 0.75 inches of rain fell within a 3 to 4 hour period. This was enough to re-aggravate flooding problems. In the town of Spencer, the Owl creek spilled over its banks late in the afternoon with nearly a foot of water covering some adjacent roadways. These roads were reopened late in the evening. Also, route 96 in Candor was closed due to high water conditions for a time in the evening. By midnight, all small streams and creeks were back within their banks.
June 1998HailSpencer-A thunderstorm cell became severe briefly over northwestern sections of the county late in the afternoon. Hailstones ranging from nickel to golf ball sized were observed by skywarn spotters in East Spencer.
August 2019HailSpencer-no account filed
May 2014HailSpencer-no account filed
August 2011HailSpencer-no account filed
June 2006HailSpencer-no account filed
May 2005HailSpencer-no account filed
June 2002HailSpencer-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Tioga 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
North Spencer3.3 miles33
Crum Town4.1 miles28
West Candor4.1 miles23
Halsey Valley5.5 miles23
North Barton6.3 miles22
Gridleyville6.9 miles21
Reniff7.0 miles29
Straits Corners7.3 miles23

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 SpencerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q522130The 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 965979. 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.