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Poston, Arizona

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1931 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Parker census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85344. The Survey maps it on the Poston quadrangle. 183 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 335 feet above sea level.

Poston within La Paz County

On record in Poston

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 within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Surveyed buildings and structures 5 records

Population over time

3 figures

Poston fell from 369 to 183 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
2000369
2010285-84 (-23%)
2020183-102 (-36%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 22 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.

Photographs

5 photographs,

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.

Indian Farmhouse Group, Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Indian Farmhouse Group, Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Indian Wattle-and-Daub Farmhouse, Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Indian Wattle-and-Daub Farmhouse, Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Indian Double House, Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Indian Double House, Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Blacksmith's Ramada, Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Blacksmith's Ramada, Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Indian Wattle-and-Daub Farmhouse (with Ramada), Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Indian Wattle-and-Daub Farmhouse (with Ramada), Gila River Vicinity, Poston, La Paz County, AZ
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

187 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 187 fires within 5 miles of Poston between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,961 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 9 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/undetermined113
Misuse of fire by a minor27
Debris and open burning26
Arson/incendiarism9
Natural6
Recreation and ceremony2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Smoking1
Fireworks1

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
8 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River AgencySWICK
4 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresColorado River AgencySTORM
4 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River AgencyLABOR DAY
4 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresColorado River AgencyCHURCH
4 September 1997Debris and open burningunder an acreColorado River Agency1ST AVE
27 September 1993Arson/incendiarism65 acresColorado River AgencyLEVEE
26 September 1996Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreColorado River AgencyE. EDDY
25 September 2001Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River AgencyAHAMACAV

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in La Paz County

Storms near this place

4 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Poston in 4 storm reports between 2010 and 2019: 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
September 2019Thunderstorm WindPoston$100,000Isolated to scattered monsoon thunderstorms developed across the far northwest portion of La Paz County during the evening hours on September 1st. The stronger storms generated gusty damaging outflow winds well in excess of 50 mph, as supported by a 53 mph wind gust from a RAWS weather station in Parker. At 2149MST, a member of the public reported that at least 20 power poles were downed on Mohave Road between Burns Road and Poston Road. The downed poles were located southwest of Parker and about 4 miles north of the town of Poston. Wind gusts were estimated to be as high as 65 mph. No injuries were reported due to the very strong winds.
January 2010Thunderstorm WindPoston$100,000Numerous power poles blown down due to thunderstorm winds and heavy rain.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindPoston$30,000Scattered strong thunderstorms developed across portions of La Paz county during the afternoon hours on August 3rd, and they moved quickly to the north at speeds greater than 25 mph. The storms produced gusty and damaging outflow winds estimated to be in excess of 60 mph. At 1607MST, a Significant Weather Advisory was issued for northern La Paz county, due to strong thunderstorms with outflow winds expected to be greater than 50 mph. The advisory was in effect through 1700MST. According to local law enforcement, at 1653MST a number of power poles were blown down near highway 95, about 20 miles to the south of Parker.
September 2019Thunderstorm WindPoston-Monsoon thunderstorms developed across the far northwest portion of La Paz County during the evening hours on September 1st, and one of the stronger storms generated very gusty outflow winds just to the east of the lower Colorado River Valley. At 2155MST a mesonet gage located 4 miles to the west of Poston measured a wind gust to 58 mph. No wind damage was reported in the area.

Every storm recorded in La Paz 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
Parker12.4 miles22
Bluewater14.1 miles22
Cienega Springs16.4 miles25
Parker Strip19.0 miles25
Bouse21.1 miles19
La Paz (historical)21.5 miles25
Quartzsite24.2 miles17
Morgantown25.2 miles25

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 PostonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1855103The 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 9680. 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.

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.