BlockBefore

Oatman, Arizona

29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Bullhead City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 86433. The Survey maps it on the Oatman quadrangle. 102 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,710 feet above sea level.

Oatman within Mohave County

On record in Oatman

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 2 records

Population over time

3 figures

Oatman fell from 128 to 102 between 2000 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
2000128
2010135+7 (+5%)
2020102-33 (-24%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 29 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

31 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 31 fires within 5 miles of Oatman between 1992 and 2020, burning about 578 acres in total. 12 started naturally. 3 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
Natural12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Equipment and vehicle use4
Arson/incendiarism3
Smoking2
Recreation and ceremony2
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
6 September 1995Natural3.0 acresArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Officenot named
6 August 1993Natural10 acresPhoenix District OfficeSITGRAVES
5 August 2005Naturalunder an acrePhoenix District OfficeRAMS
27 August 1993Natural120 acresPhoenix District OfficeSPRINGS
25 August 1998Natural1.0 acresPhoenix District OfficeMCHEFFY
19 August 2004Naturalunder an acrePhoenix District OfficeSHAFFER
14 August 1998Naturalunder an acrePhoenix District OfficeINDIAN
13 August 1998Natural2.0 acresPhoenix District OfficeNUTT

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Mohave County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 213 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 213 workings within 5 miles of Oatman: 103 occurrences, 53 unknowns, 46 past producers, 4 prospects. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Gold, Silver, Silver, Gold, Silver. 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
Alcyone ProspectGold, IronOccurrenceGold, Hematite
Arizona Gold Star ProspectManganese, GoldOccurrenceVein
Best Bet MineSilver, Gold, Zinc, Lead, CopperOccurrence
Big Jim MineGold, Silver, Molybdenum, Lead, Copper, AsbestosPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Gold, Wulfenite
Black Mountain Fire AgateQuartz, GemstoneProducerCOLLUVIAL
Boundary ConeGold, Silver, Water, FreePast Producer
Cool Springs Fire AgateGemstone, QuartzProducerVOLCANIC
Gold Ore ExtensionGold, Silver, CopperPast Producer
Gold Ore MineGold, Sulfur-PyriteOccurrence
Little JimUraniumUnknown

Every working recorded in Mohave County

Storms near this place

26 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oatman in 26 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 22 flash flood, 4 thunderstorm wind. 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 2013Thunderstorm WindOatman$100,000Thunderstorm winds snapped seven power poles on Route 66 near Oatman, knocking out power to the entire town for 18 hours. Later in the afternoon, a man was treated for heat-related injuries, and one dog died from the heat.
July 2012Flash FloodOatman$100,000Route 66 was closed from mile marker 1 through mile marker 20 due to sections of the pavement being washed away. Other roads were also flooded in the Oatman area.
July 2022Flash FloodOatman$10,000Flash flooding closed numerous roads in and south of Golden Valley.
July 2013Flash FloodOatman$10,000The general store in Oatman was inundated by flash flooding.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindOatman$5,000Thunderstorm winds blew down power lines in Oatman.
August 2018Flash FloodOatman$5,000Numerous roads were closed in Golden Valley, and Oatman Highway was closed from Tombstone Trail to Cool Springs.
July 2016Flash FloodOatman$5,000Several roads were washed out and basketball size boulders dislodged in and around Oatman.
August 2014Flash FloodOatman$5,000Water, rocks, and mud flowed over several roads in Oatman. Waterfalls formed in the Black Mountains.
September 2025Flash FloodOatman$2,000Video clips from Oatman, AZ, showed fast-flowing water and mud over the Oatman Highway near mile marker 23.
September 2019Flash FloodOatman$2,000Oatman-Topock Highway was flooded and closed from mile marker 0 to Boundary Cone Road.
July 2018Flash FloodOatman$2,000Oatman Highway was closed from the Sacramento Wash, which was flooded for hours, to Silver Creek.
October 2015Flash FloodOatman$2,000County Road 153 south of Oatman was closed due to flooding.
September 2025Flash FloodOatman$1,000Oatman Highway was closed from Casa Grande Drive to Boundary Cone Road.
July 2022Flash FloodOatman$1,000Oatman Hwy was closed.
August 2022Flash FloodOatman$1,000Boundary Cone Road was closed.
November 2019Flash FloodOatman$1,000Boundary Cone Road was closed from Ellery Street to Oatman Highway.
July 2018Flash FloodOatman$1,000Oatman Highway was closed from Cool Springs to Silver Creek.
August 2017Flash FloodOatman$1,000A spotter reported 1.9 inches of rain in 30 minutes, with water running all over.
September 2014Flash FloodOatman$1,000Over six inches of water flowed down Main Street in Oatman.
August 2013Flash FloodOatman$1,000Water, rocks, and mud flowed over Highway 66 near Oatman.
January 2010Flash FloodOatman-Oatman Highway was closed due to flooding, and did not reopen until the next morning.
August 2010Flash FloodOatman-One and a quarter inches of rain fell in less than an hour, resulting in flooded roadways.
July 2008Flash FloodOatman-Boundary Cone Road was closed west of Oatman Highway due to flooding.
September 2006Thunderstorm WindOatman-Also nearly an inch of rain in 20 minutes.
October 2006Thunderstorm WindOatman-Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines, and blew tiles off roofs in Mohave Valley.
July 1999Flash FloodOatman-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Mohave 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
Mesquite Creek10.6 miles22
Mojave Ranch Estates12.4 miles22
Mohave Valley12.6 miles22
Hardyville (historical)12.7 miles35
Mojave City12.8 miles35
Bullhead City12.9 miles33
Riviera13.6 miles35
Drake13.9 miles28

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 OatmanAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2008647The 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 8901. 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.