Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Chester, Ohio

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Chester Township. It lies in ZIP code area 45720. It stands on West Branch Shade River. The Survey maps it on the Chester quadrangle. It stands 623 feet above sea level.

Chester within Meigs County

Then and now

1907 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 87 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Chester, surveyed 1994

Topographic sheet of Chester, surveyed 1907

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 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.

1907 USGS Keno quadrangle1:62500
1907 USGS Keno quadrangle1:62500
1907 USGS Keno quadrangle1:62500
1949 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
1956 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
1956 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
1960 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000
1960 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000
1960 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000
1960 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000
1961 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
1981 USGS Parkersburg quadrangle1:100000
1988 USGS Clarksburg quadrangle1:250000
1994 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000

Photographs

1 photograph,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Old Meigs County Courthouse, Chester, Meigs County, OH
Unattributed, . Library of Congress

Fires nearby

40 since 2002

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 40 fires within 5 miles of Chester between 2002 and 2019, burning about 82 acres in total. None started naturally. None was 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	16
Debris and open burning	14
Equipment and vehicle use	5
Power generation/transmission/distribution	3
Smoking	2

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 2019	Debris and open burning	3.0 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	15268
27 September 2019	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	15260
9 May 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	1443
3 May 2015	Debris and open burning	1.8 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	1442
25 May 2014	Equipment and vehicle use	2.0 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named
15 May 2013	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named
9 April 2017	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	7831
5 April 2016	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	4613

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Meigs County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 314 shown

Museums hold 314 specimens collected within 10 miles of Chester between 1831 and 1973: 271 Animalia, 35 Plantae, 8 Fungi. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by C. H. Jones, Carroll H. D., Carroll, G. and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Ustilago sorghi (Ehrenb. ex Link) Pass.	1899	Kellerman, W. A.	FLORA OF OHIO
Hirneola auricula-judae (Bull.) Berk.	1940	Carroll, G.	Big Spruce Creek
Odontostephana obliqua (Jacq.) Alexander	1963	William G. Gambill Jr.
Myosotis laxa Lehm.	1831	C. H. Jones	Orange Twp.
Asplenium trichomanes L.	1840	Clark, Joseph; Riddell, John Leonard	Meigs County, Ohio
Jungermannia sullivantii Austin	1844	W. S. Sullivant	In woods pasture pond 30 rods south of my [W.S. Sullivant's] garden
Helminthosporium turcicum Pass.	1906	Carroll H. D.	Bull Run
Isariopsis griseola Sacc.	1906	Carroll H. D.	Bull Run
Puccinia violae (Schumach.) DC.	1906	Sheldon John L.	Ohio River R. R. Foster's Siding
Trichostrongylus Looss, 1905	1906	E. Stevenson	Clifton
Uromyces appendiculatus (Pers.) Link	1906	Carroll H. D.	Bull Run
Gymnosporangium globosum (Farl.) Farl.	1916	Nixon, E. L.	Pomeroy

All 314 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms nearby

20 since 1995

The National Weather Service names Chester in 20 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 11 flood, 6 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado. 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
September 2007	Hail	Chester	$50,000	no account filed
July 2017	Tornado (EF0)	Chester	$15,000	The NWS Survey team found damage consistent with an EF-0 tornado. The tornado touched down along Pomeroy Pike just to the southwest of Chester. One small tin shed was lifted from its foundation and destroyed. A tree fell onto a home causing slight damage. In addition, several trees were uprooted, and numerous tree limbs were snapped in the same area. Near the end of the path, along Lakewood Road, several additional trees were knocked down.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	$10,000	Trees or large branches fell onto power lines and 1 mobile home.
September 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	$10,000	Power lines were knocked down by broken tree limbs.
March 2021	Flood	Chester	$8,000	The Shade River near Chester rose out of its 17 foot bankfull level during the last final minutes of February 28th. The river crested at 21.49 feet on the first day of March and returned to its banks just before noon on the 2nd. The Sugar Run Creek Bridge and Shade River Bridge flooded and became impassable while the river was out of its banks.
August 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	$5,000	no account filed
September 2018	Flood	Chester	$2,000	The Shade River near Chester rose above its 17 foot bank full level shortly after midnight on the 10th. It crested just above 21 feet that afternoon, reaching moderate flood stage. It slowly returned to its banks by the next morning. This flooded the Sugar Run Creek Bridge and Oak Hill Road.
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	$2,000	Trees fell down.
June 2022	Flood	Chester	$1,000	High water affected Route 7 and Old Warehouse Road.
February 2018	Flood	Chester	$1,000	Flooding along the Shade River resulted in the closure of State Route 248 between Route 7 and Route 124.\|\|The river gage at Chester entered moderate flood stage during this time. The river rose above its bankfull level of 17 feet very late on the 22nd and crested a few inches above its 21 foot moderate flood level mid morning on the 23rd. It returned to its banks on the evening of the 24th.
April 2018	Flood	Chester	$1,000	The Shade River near Chester experience moderate flooding, causing high water on the Sugar Run Creek Bridge and Oak Hill Road. The river rose above its bankfull leavel of 17 feet during the afternoon of the 3rd. It crested at 23 feet, or 2 feet above moderate flood stage around noon on the 4th, and returned to its banks around sunrise on the 5th.
January 2013	Flood	Chester	$1,000	The Shade River caused some minor flooding. A few roads were blocked by high water. The gauge crested near 17.8 feet during the evening hours of the 31st. Bankfull is 17 feet.
March 2026	Flood	Chester	-	The Shade River near Chester rose above a bankfull level of 16 feet on the morning of March 4th, then continued to rise to a crest around 19.2 feet on the morning of March 5th. The river then slowly receded through the day, returning below bankfull that evening. While the river was out of its banks, flooding of low sections of Scout Camp Road, the Sugar Run Creek Bridge, fields and low-lying areas adjacent to the river took place.
January 2024	Flood	Chester	-	The gage along the Shade River near Chester exceeded its bankfull level of 16 feet during the early morning hours of January 25th. The river crested just over 17 feet late that night, then fell below bankfull once again early the next morning. Low lying spots along Scout Camp Road encountered high water issues as excessive water spilled onto the roadways while the river was out of its banks.
April 2024	Flood	Chester	-	The Shade River near Chester rose above its bankfull level on the morning of April 12th. After cresting around 17.9 feet that evening, waters receded below bankfull early the next morning. A few low lying spots along Scout Camp Road near the Sugar Run Creek bridge flooded as a result of the river spilling out of its banks.
April 2024	Flood	Chester	-	The Shade River at Chester rose above its bankfull level on the night of April 2nd. The river made an initial crest the next day, then rose again to a final crest near 20.8 feet shortly after midnight on the 4th. Waters receded from there and returned to its banks on the afternoon of the 4th. Several local roads near the gauge observed flooding during this time, including Scout Camp Road.
February 2018	Flood	Chester	-	The Shade River at Chester rose above its bankfull level of 17 feet mid morning on the 25th, crested at 17.6 feet that afternoon and returned to its banks just after midnight on the 26th.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	Trees fell across roads.
October 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	Trees were blown down along Route 7.
April 1995	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Meigs 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Flatwoods	3.1 miles	14
Keno	3.2 miles	15
Five Points	3.4 miles	14
Sumner	3.6 miles	13
Bucks Mill	3.9 miles	13
Hemlock Grove	4.1 miles	14
Bashan	4.3 miles	15
Morning Star	4.6 miles	14

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 Chester	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5093415	The 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 1048598. 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.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

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.