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West Elmira, New York

32 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1895 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Elmira town. It lies in ZIP code area 14905. It stands on Hendy Creek. The Survey maps it on the Elmira quadrangle. 4,850 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 886 feet above sea level.

West Elmira within Chemung County

Then and now

1895 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 97 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of West Elmira, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of West Elmira, surveyed 1895

Population over time

2 figures

West Elmira fell from 4,967 to 4,850 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
20104,967
20204,850-117 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 32 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

427 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 427 fires within 5 miles of West Elmira between 1993 and 2020, burning about 405 acres in total. 29 started naturally. 67 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/undetermined199
Arson/incendiarism67
Smoking61
Debris and open burning34
Natural29
Equipment and vehicle use19
Misuse of fire by a minor13
Recreation and ceremony3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2

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 2015Naturalunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
9 September 2002Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresFire Department of New Yorknot named
8 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
7 September 2020Equipment and vehicle use1.2 acresFire Department of New YorkNA
7 September 2002Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
7 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
6 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
5 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.3 acresFire Department of New YorkN/A

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Chemung County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of West Elmira: 3 producers, 3 past producers. 3 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
J.Murphy No.1 WellSaltPast Producer
Chemung PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Chemung PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Dixon PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Maple Avenue PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Maple Avenue PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Chemung County

Storms near this place

6 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Elmira in 6 storm reports between 2017 and 2024: 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 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
July 2018Flash FloodWest Elmira$50,000Stationary thunderstorms created severe flooding of roads and properties along Hendy Creek into the village of West Elmira.
August 2018Flash FloodWest Elmira$25,000Flash flooding led to evacuations and swift water rescues near Southport.
September 2018Flash FloodWest Elmira$10,000Road flooded and partially washed out at West Church and Coleman.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindWest Elmira$5,000Strong thunderstorm winds brought down a tree and wires on Curren Road.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindWest Elmira$1,000Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down a tree on wires on York Avenue.
April 2017Thunderstorm WindWest Elmira$1,000A thunderstorm moved across the region and became severe. This thunderstorm resulted in a tree being knocked over.

Every storm recorded in Chemung 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
Golden Glow Heights1.5 miles32
Hoffman Plaza Housing Project1.7 miles32
Southport2.1 miles32
Elmira2.1 miles32
Hathorn Court2.5 miles32
Dewittsburg Park Housing Project2.9 miles32
Pine City3.1 miles32
Harris Hill Manor3.3 miles32

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 West ElmiraAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3461238The 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 969213. 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.