Gisela, Arizona
23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 2004. It stands in the Tonto Basin census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85541. It stands on Sand Wash. The Survey maps it on the Gisela quadrangle. 536 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,881 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresGisela fell from 570 to 536 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 570 | |
| 2020 | 536 | -34 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 23 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1887 USGS Verde quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Verde quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1936 USGS Payson quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1936 USGS Payson quadrangle1:48000
- 1942 USGS Payson quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Holbrook quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Holbrook quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Holbrook quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Holbrook quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Gisela quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1981 USGS Payson quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 2004 USGS Gisela quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
147 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 147 fires within 5 miles of Gisela between 1992 and 2020, burning about 4,676 acres in total. 38 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 | 52 |
| Natural | 38 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 38 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tonto National Forest | BLUE |
| 25 September 1994 | Natural | under an acre | Tonto National Forest | not named |
| 25 September 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Tonto National Forest | not named |
| 24 September 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.7 acres | Tonto National Forest | BLACK |
| 23 September 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tonto National Forest | MILL |
| 2 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tonto National Forest | PEACE |
| 1 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Tonto National Forest | HOG |
| 1 September 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Tonto National Forest | BRADY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 18 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Gisela: 11 prospects, 6 occurrences, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Barium-Barite, Gold, Manganese, Mercury. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop's Knoll Mine | Gold, Copper | Occurrence | 1950 | |
| Black Mtn Hematite | Iron | Prospect | ||
| Bratlin Property | Copper, Gold | Prospect | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Mineral Survey 4636 | Copper, Silver, Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Osborn | Asbestos, Fluorine-Fluorite | Occurrence | ||
| Peacock | Silver, Copper, Gold, Mercury | Prospect | ||
| Basic Minerals Property | Mercury | Prospect | ||
| Bishop Knoll Property | Copper | Prospect | ||
| Holder Claims | Gold | Prospect |
Storms near this place
8 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gisela in 8 storm reports between 2007 and 2024: 3 flash flood, 2 heavy rain, 2 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 1 death. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2019 | Flood | Gisela | 1 killed | Tonto Creek rose to above action stage for several days due to heavy rain and melting snow. During the initial increase in flow, a vehicle attempted ford the creek at a low water crossing. The vehicle was washed downstream and one person in the vehicle died. This happened around 621 PM. |
| July 2024 | Flash Flood | Gisela | - | A USGS stream gage on Tonto Creek (TNRA3) rose just over a foot between 600 PM and 1000 PM. The water returned to a stable level by noon on the 25th. |
| August 2022 | Flash Flood | Gisela | - | Tonto Rreek rose 2.25 feet between 730 AM and 800 AM about 10 miles south of Gisela. |
| August 2016 | Flash Flood | Gisela | - | Flash flooding was reported in Gisela with washes running high. A few road crossings were temporarily impassible because of the water and deposited debris on the roads. |
| January 2010 | Flood | Gisela | - | Heavy rain and melting snow caused flooding along Tonto Creek in Gisela south to Tonto Basin. The heavy rain caused a mud slide that temporarily closed Highway 87. |
| December 2007 | Heavy Rain | Gisela | - | Heavy rain caused the East Verde River to rise. A Payson man was rescued after he tried to cross the River. His four wheel drive SUV was washed about 50 yards downstream where it was stopped by some boulders. |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gisela | - | Wind broke four inch diameter limbs from mature sycamore trees. The yard is completely covered with tree debris. Also reported 0.31 inches of rain in 10 minutes. |
| December 2007 | Heavy Rain | Gisela | - | Heavy rain fell over northern Gila County through the day. Some observations include: Payson RAWS 1.95 and Promontory RAWS 2.52. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rye | 4.0 miles | 23 | |
| Gallups | 5.2 miles | 22 | |
| Oxbow Estates | 6.5 miles | 22 | |
| Coffeepot | 6.5 miles | 22 | |
| Jakes Corner | 6.6 miles | 23 | |
| Payson | 9.2 miles | 22 | |
| Fort McDonald | 9.9 miles | 22 | |
| Star Valley | 10.6 miles | 23 |
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 Gisela | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2269785 | 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 29332. 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.











