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Paulden, Arizona

30 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Prescott census division. It lies in ZIP code area 86334. It stands on Big Chino Wash. The Survey maps it on the Paulden quadrangle. 5,567 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,409 feet above sea level.

Paulden within Yavapai County

On record in Paulden

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Paulden grew from 5,231 to 5,567 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
20105,231
20205,567+336 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 30 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

91 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 91 fires within 5 miles of Paulden between 1992 and 2020, burning about 321 acres in total. 18 started naturally. 2 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/undetermined53
Natural18
Debris and open burning6
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Recreation and ceremony3
Arson/incendiarism2
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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 2016Naturalunder an acrePrescott National ForestBORROW
30 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCentral Arizona Fire and Medical AuthorityNOT NAMED
30 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCentral Arizona Fire and Medical AuthorityNOT NAMED
29 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCentral Arizona Fire and Medical AuthorityNOT NAMED
21 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCentral Arizona Fire and Medical AuthorityNOT NAMED
7 August 1994Naturalunder an acrePrescott National Forestnot named
4 August 1993Naturalunder an acreArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Officenot named
20 August 1994Debris and open burning25 acresArizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Officenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Yavapai County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 26 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 26 workings within 5 miles of Paulden: 14 past producers, 8 unknowns, 3 producers, 1 occurrence. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Gold. 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
Boundary QuarryStone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducerSandstone
Cinder PitVolcanic MaterialsPast ProducerScoria
Cinder PitPumiceUnknown
Del Rio PlacersGoldPast Producer
AbraLimestone, GeneralOccurrenceSedimentary
Blue Lime Placer M S 3021Stone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Upper Chino Valley LimestoneLimestone, GeneralPast ProducerSedimentary
Upper Chino Valley QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Yavapai County

Storms near this place

14 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Paulden in 14 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 4 flash flood, 3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud. 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 1998Thunderstorm WindPaulden$7,000A mobile home was destroyed by thunderstorm outflow winds estimated at 58 mph.
September 2025Flash FloodPaulden-The USGS stream gauge on Big Chino Wash near Paulden (BCWA3) measured a 4.1 foot rise (877cfs) in about an hour and a half.
September 2023Flash FloodPaulden-Law Enforcement reported that the Big Chino Wash flooded Big Springs Ranch Road.
October 2014HailPaulden-A thunderstorm produced one inch diameter hail in Paulden.
October 2014Heavy RainPaulden-A thunderstorm produced 1.24 inches of rain in 40 minutes in Paulden with minor street flooding.
August 2011Flash FloodPaulden-A few side streets were impassible in Chino Valley due to heavy rain from a thunderstorm. Highway 89 had four inches of standing water on it at times.
September 2004Flash FloodPaulden-Water from Big Chino Wash covered La Rita Road to a depth of 3 feet just west of Paulden.
August 2003Tornado (F0)Paulden-A tornado touched down twice in a unpopulated area near Paulden.
September 2002Funnel CloudPaulden-A funnel cloud was seen southeast of Paulden.
September 2002FloodPaulden-The Prescott Sheriff Office reported that washes were flowing in the Paulden area. The flooding washed at least one car off a dirt road.
July 2002HailPaulden-One inch hail was reported in Williamson Valley 3 miles west of Paulden or 10 miles north of Prescott.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindPaulden-A mobile home was demolished by thunderstorm winds.
September 1999Funnel CloudPaulden-no account filed
September 1999HailPaulden-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Yavapai 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
Abra1.6 miles30
Del Rio4.5 miles29
Drake8.2 miles30
Eddy Place8.8 miles25
Chino Valley8.9 miles29
Mack10.9 miles28
Bear12.3 miles29
Granite Siding13.5 miles30

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 PauldenAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2376868The 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 32736. 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.