BlockBefore

Bearden, Oklahoma

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Okemah census division. It lies in ZIP code area 74859. The Survey maps it on the Cromwell quadrangle. 135 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 935 feet above sea level.

Bearden within Okfuskee County

Population over time

2 figures

Bearden grew from 133 to 135 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
2010133
2020135+2 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 12 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

86 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 86 fires within 5 miles of Bearden between 1994 and 2020, burning about 13,949 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 20 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
Debris and open burning36
Arson/incendiarism20
Missing data/not specified/undetermined17
Equipment and vehicle use7
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Natural1
Smoking1
Recreation and ceremony1

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
27 September 1998Debris and open burning35 acresOkmulgee Field OfficeVCURRY
14 September 2011Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresOkmulgee Field OfficePUMPJACK
8 August 2011Misuse of fire by a minor1.5 acresWewoka AgencyTUCKER
7 August 2008Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreOkmulgee Field OfficeSUGAR WATER
21 August 2010Debris and open burning1.4 acresOkmulgee Field OfficeBROWN
19 August 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined65 acresOkmulgee Field OfficeRENOLYDS
4 July 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreOkmulgee Field OfficeFISH
30 June 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOkmulgee Field OfficeOSBORN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Okfuskee County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Bearden: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Unknown Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Okfuskee County

Storms near this place

54 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bearden in 54 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 28 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 8 tornado, 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
April 2024Tornado (EF3)Bearden$300,000This is the second segment of a two-segment tornado that started in Hughes County, where it also produced EF-3 damage. This strong tornado moved north-northeast from Hughes County, crossing into Okfuskee County between the N3730 and N3740 Roads. A home was destroyed just north of the county line. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted, and numerous power poles were blown down through the E1170 Road, then it moved into the Bearden Oil and Gas Field, where road access was very minimal. Two high tension metal pole structures were blown down in this area, just south of the E1160 Road, and east of the N3740 Road. The tornado continued to move north-northeast severely damaging a home, and snapping numerous trees along the N3760 Road, before dissipating south of the E1110 Road and west of Highway 27. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 135 to 145 mph.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindBearden$100,000Strong thunderstorm wind damaged outbuildings and rolled over horse trailers.
June 2025FloodBearden$100,000Several county roads were reported flooded, with portions washed out.
October 2011HailBearden$100,000The second and southernmost supercell continued to move slowly east-southeast leaving a broad swath of damage in its wake as a result of wind-driven hail up to about four inches in diameter. The wind-driven hail destroyed the roofs and siding of homes, broke windows out of homes and automobilies, and stripped trees of leaves and even bark in some cases. Witnesses indicated that the hail lasted for about 20 minutes in some places and several inches of hail was still piled up against homes the next morning before it completely melted.
September 2023Thunderstorm WindBearden$50,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees, several of which fell onto homes.
May 2015HailBearden$50,000Grapefruit size hail damaged homes and vehicles.
May 2001HailBearden$50,000Golfball size hail fell and damaged cars and roofs of homes.
May 2010Tornado (EF1)Bearden$40,000A tornado developed south of Okemah, moved east-northeast for several miles then curved to the northeast moving over the south and east side of Clearview before dissipating north of I-40 north of Pharoah. The tornado damaged homes, destroyed outbuildings, snapped or uprooted numerous trees, and blew down power poles. The estimated peak wind in the tornado based on this damage was 105 mph.
March 2023HailBearden$25,000Quarter to ping pong ball size hail covered the ground, and damaged homes and vehicles.
May 2022Tornado (EF1)Bearden$20,000This tornado developed in Seminole County, and produced damage in Cromwell before moving into Okfuskee County. It crossed into Okfuskee County about a mile northeast of Cromwell, or about four miles west of Bearden, and moved east-northeast damaging trees. The tornado enlarged and turned more northeast as it approached the E1130 Road, where the tree damage increased with numerous uprooted and snapped trees through where it crossed Highway 48 with a damage path width of about 3/4 of a mile wide. Outbuildings were also damaged. A gas station received minor damage where it crossed I-40. The tornado continued north-northeast producing light tree damage across the E1100 Road and Highway 56, then dissipated before it reached Highway 62 northwest of Okemah. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 105 to 110 mph.
June 2017HailBearden$20,000no account filed
May 2022Tornado (EF1)Bearden$15,000This tornado uprooted a few trees, and snapped large tree limbs. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 90 to 95 mph.
May 2010Tornado (EF1)Bearden$15,000A tornado moved into southwestern Okfuskee County from Seminole County. The tornado snapped or uprooted numerous trees and blew down power poles in Okfuskee County. The estimated peak wind in this segment of the tornado's path based on this damage was 95 mph.
May 2010Tornado (EF1)Bearden$15,000A tornado damaged homes, snapped or uprooted numerous trees, and downed power poles. The maximum estimated wind speed based on this damage was about 105 mph.
May 2015HailBearden$10,000no account filed
January 1996Thunderstorm WindBearden$8,000no account filed
May 2021Thunderstorm WindBearden$5,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power poles in and around town.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindBearden$5,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down a tree and power poles.
November 2015Tornado (EF0)Bearden$2,000This tornado uprooted a softwood tree, snapped large tree limbs, and blew down a chain-link fence. Based on this damage, estimated maximum wind in the tornado was 70 to 80 mph.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindBearden$2,000A large tree was split and tin was blown off of a barn by strong thunderstorm wind.
April 2001Thunderstorm WindBearden$100Thunderstorm winds blew down large tree limbs near the Beardon school.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindBearden$100Thunderstorm winds blew down several large tree limbs.
May 2017Flash FloodBearden-Portions of Highway 48 were flooded south of I-40.
December 2015FloodBearden-Portions of Highway 48 southwest of Okemah were closed due to flooding.
December 2015FloodBearden-Portions of Highway 48 between Bearden and I-40 were closed due to flooding.
June 2013Flash FloodBearden-State Highway 48 southwest of Okemah was closed due to high water.
June 2004Thunderstorm WindBearden-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew large tree limbs down.
April 1999Flash FloodBearden-There was street flooding in Bearden.
May 1995HailBearden-,,,,,,,,Thunderstorm Winds (G52)
March 2024HailBearden-no account filed
May 2022HailBearden-no account filed
March 2013HailBearden-no account filed
April 2013HailBearden-no account filed
May 2010HailBearden-no account filed
May 2008HailBearden-no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
April 2004HailBearden-no account filed
April 2004HailBearden-no account filed
March 2002HailBearden-no account filed
May 2002HailBearden-no account filed
April 2001HailBearden-no account filed
March 1999HailBearden-no account filed
May 1997Tornado (F0)Bearden-no account filed
March 1997HailBearden-no account filed
March 1997HailBearden-no account filed
March 1997HailBearden-no account filed
January 1996HailBearden-no account filed
June 1995HailBearden-no account filed
June 1995HailBearden-no account filed
April 1995Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
June 1995HailBearden-no account filed
July 1995HailBearden-no account filed
August 1994Thunderstorm WindBearden-no account filed
October 1993HailBearden-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Okfuskee 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
Okemah7.3 miles13
Castle8.7 miles13
Boley11.2 miles13
Clearview11.2 miles13
IXL12.0 miles11
Weleetka13.4 miles13
Morse14.2 miles11
Paden14.5 miles10

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 BeardenAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3289522The 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 1100197. 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.