From the record
One of 155 National Register listings published here for Columbia County · listed in 2020 · category: Building.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. 10 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1903.
One of 155 National Register listings published here for Columbia County · listed in 2020 · category: Building.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 104 fires within 5 miles of Sanford W. and Maude Smith House between 1992 and 2020, burning about 122 acres in total. 7 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/undetermined | 41 |
| Debris and open burning | 25 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 10 |
| Natural | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Smoking | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 23 September 2010 | Smoking | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 19 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 15 September 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 10 September 2009 | Smoking | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 25 August 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 16 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 15 August 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chatham, the town this property stands in, in 54 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 38 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 5 hail, 3 lightning. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2008 | Flash Flood | Chatham | $45,000 | Several roads were closed in various portions of Columbia County due to flash flooding from very heavy rainfall.||In Hillsdale, Rodman, Wolf Hill, and Pumpkin Roads were closed due to significant flooding. A high volume of water, seven feet deep and backed up over a 20 acre swamp, was believed to have burst from a beaver dam, sending a cascade of water down Wolf Hill Road.||In addition, School Street in Chatham was also closed due to flooding. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $15,000 | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $10,000 | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Lightning | North Chatham | $5,000 | A suspected lightning strike split a tree in half which then fell onto a home causing damage on Eberle Road. |
| June 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $5,000 | no account filed |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | $4,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | $2,000 | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | $2,000 | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Lightning | Old Chatham | $1,000 | A lightning strike was reported to have downed wires across Albany Turnpike in Chatham. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | A local 911 call center reported a tree and wires down on Slate Hill Road at Route 66 in Ghent. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Wires were downed along Route 203 near Route 32 in Chatham. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | A tree and wires were downed along Route 203 near Crestview Drive near Niverville. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Tree and wire damage was reported along Little Lake Road near Route 203 near North Chatham. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Tree and wire damage was reported along Jefferson Hill Road near Route 23 near Malden Bridge. |
| June 2023 | Hail | Chatham | - | One inch hail fell in Chatham. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees and wires were reported down in multiple locations in the Town of Chatham. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | A trained spotter reported an estimated thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph. |
| September 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | A tree was snapped and came down on wires connected to a residential home. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees were reported down at multiple locations in Chatham. |
| March 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | A utility pole and power lines were reported down on East Shore Drive. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Old Chatham | - | Trees were reported down on Rock City Road as well as County Route 13 near Spath Street in the town of Chatham. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | A tree was reported down on Elm Street near Chatham. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Chatham | - | Trees and wires were downed along the Albany Turnpike and Decker Street in Chatham. |
| July 2021 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | State Route 66 at the intersection of Dardess Drive was flooded. |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Two large trees were downed in Chatham. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Route 203 was closed due to a tree downed on wires. |
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees were downed in several locations throughout Columbia County. |
| August 2018 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | Route 66 was closed in Village Center due to heavy rain. |
| August 2018 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | State Route 66 was closed at Payn Ave due to flooding. |
| August 2018 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | State Route 66 was closed to Highbridge Road due to flooding. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Numerous wires down in Ghent. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Trees and power lines were reported down on Electric Park Road on the east side of Kinderhook Lake in Niverville as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Old Chatham | - | Trees were reported down on County Route 13 in the town of Chatham as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2015 | Hail | North Chatham | - | Nickel size hail was reported during a thunderstorm at 433 Rapp Road North in the town of Kinderhook. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Trees and wires were downed at the intersection of Round Lake Road and County Route 28B in the hamlet of Niverville as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Trees and utility poles were downed near a farm located at 433 Rapp Road North in the town of Kinderhook as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2015 | Funnel Cloud | Chatham | - | A funnel cloud was spotted during a thunderstorm from the front of a supermarket to the north of Ghent. The funnel cloud never reached the ground. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Old Chatham | - | Trees and power lines were reported down on Hamilton Lane in the town of Chatham as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2013 | Hail | Chatham | - | A spotter reported half dollar size hail fell from a thunderstorm in Chatham. |
| October 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Numerous trees and wires were reported down in Chatham as a result of thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees and wires were reported down in Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2011 | Hail | East Chatham | - | Half dollar size hail was reported during a thunderstorm approximately 2 miles west-northwest of Canaan. The hail broke some windows. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | A tree was reported down on a property in North Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees were reported down in Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | A large tree and wires were reported down across Bunker Hill Road in North Chatham due to strong thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | An estimated wind gust of 65 mph was reported by a storm chaser during a thunderstorm in Niverville. Also, a tree was reported down on wires. |
| July 2009 | Flood | Chatham | - | A roadway was flooded at Elm Street and Payne Avenue in Chatham due to heavy rainfall. |
| July 2009 | Flash Flood | Chatham | - | Heavy rain resulted in flash flooding in Chatham at the intersection of Elm Street and Payne Avenue. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chatham | - | Trees were reported down in Chatham as a result of strong thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Chatham | - | Trees and wires were reported down from thunderstorm winds on Route 32 in North Chatham. |
| June 2004 | Lightning | Chatham | - | Telephone outages due to lightning strikes. |
| June 2002 | Hail | Chatham | - | no account filed |
United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Tracy Memorial Village Hall Complex | 0.3 miles | 2016 |
![]() | Tracy Memorial Village Hall Complex | 0.3 miles | 2016 |
![]() | Crandell Theatre | 0.4 miles | 2017 |
![]() | Union Station | 0.5 miles | 1974 |
| Blinn-Pulver Farmhouse | 1.4 miles | 2003 | |
![]() | Bartlett House | 3.0 miles | 2012 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100004999 in Record Group 79. |
| Columbia County | All 155 listed properties in this county. |