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Sells, Arizona

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1941 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Tohono O'odham Nation census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85634. It lies near Suwuk Tontk. The Survey maps it on the Sells West quadrangle. 2,121 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,392 feet above sea level.

Sells within Pima County

On record in Sells

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

Surveyed buildings and structures 2 records

Population over time

3 figures

Sells fell from 2,799 to 2,121 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
20002,799
20102,495-304 (-11%)
20202,121-374 (-15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 17 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

173 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 173 fires within 5 miles of Sells between 1992 and 2015, burning about 271 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 5 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/undetermined86
Misuse of fire by a minor31
Debris and open burning18
Recreation and ceremony8
Natural6
Equipment and vehicle use6
Smoking5
Arson/incendiarism5
Other causes4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
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
29 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresPapago AgencyARTESIA
18 September 2003Misuse of fire by a minor2.0 acresPapago AgencyLEWISFIRE
16 September 2005Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acrePapago AgencyARTESIA
12 September 2002Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresPapago AgencyTOPD WASH
9 August 2009Debris and open burningunder an acrePapago AgencyVAMORI FIRE
8 August 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acrePapago AgencySUNDAY
6 August 1997Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acrePapago AgencySELLS08
30 August 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acrePapago AgencySELLS10

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pima County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Sells: 6 occurrences, 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Geothermal, Lead, Silver, Gold, Lead, 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
High Card MineGold, Copper, SilverPast Producer
Midnight MineLead, Silver, GoldProducer1942
Midnight MineLead, Gold, SilverPast Producer
UnknownGeothermalOccurrence
UnknownGeothermalOccurrence
UnknownGeothermalOccurrence
UnknownGeothermalOccurrence
UnknownGeothermalOccurrence
UnknownGeothermalOccurrence

Every working recorded in Pima County

Storms near this place

26 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sells in 26 storm reports between 2000 and 2024: 11 flash flood, 11 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 lightning. The reports record 2 deaths. 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
August 2005Flash FloodSells1 killed, $5,000Two to four inches of rainfall near the Village of Sells, caused several of the washes in the area to flood. A vehicle entered into the Artesa wash, which at the time was running very high with water, and became stuck. Family members tried to get everyone out of the car and to safety but a one-year-old girl could not be rescued and was later found downstream.
August 2014LightningSells1 killedLocal law enforcement reported that a maintenance worker was struck by lightning while outside the middle school in Sells. The individual was flown to a Tucson area hospital and later succumbed to injuries sustained from the strike.
August 2012Thunderstorm WindSells$35,000Thunderstorm winds snapped several power poles southwest of Sells and damaged homes in Big Fields. Three of the homes sustained major roof damage.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindSells$30,000Very strong thunderstorm winds caused several power poles to be downed in the Village of Sells, along with several trees.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindSells$25,000Power lines were blown down and a roof was reported blown off a house in Sells.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindSells$20,000Tohono O'odham Emergency Manager reported structural damage to two homes in Sells with estimated winds near 50 knots (58 mph). The homes both suffered partial roof collapses.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindSells$10,000A power pole was knocked down due to thunderstorm winds on Hwy 86 near the Assembly of God Church.
January 2010Thunderstorm WindSells$10,000Damaging thunderstorm winds downed the main transmission power line on the Tohono Oodham Nation, at approximately 9 PM. A major power failure resulted, affecting over 15,000 people. Mesonet at Sasabe measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 58 mph at 9:33 PM MST.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindSells$7,000Severe thunderstorm downburst winds downed several power poles and 10 power lines west of Sells. This caused a power disruption to the Papago Farms, Pisinimo, and Hickiwan areas.
September 2006Flash FloodSells$5,000A county official reported that Highway 86 was closed at the Sikul Himath Wash due to flooding. The bridge at this wash was overtopped causing large volumes of water to flow across Highway 86. Additionally, a swift water rescue was performed on Route 19 due to a flooded roadway.
September 2005Flash FloodSells$5,000Heavy rain over Central Pima County caused Route 19 to be closed from milepost 10 to 20. Additionally, a vehicle was stuck in a wash along Route 19.
August 2005Flash FloodSells$5,000Heavy rain caused flooded roadways which led to a swift water rescue in a flooded wash near the Village of Sells. There were no injuries.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindSells$4,500no account filed
August 2020Thunderstorm WindSells$3,000Thunderstorm winds downed two power poles near Sells.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindSells$1,000Law enforcement reported windows blown out of a house in Sells.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindSells$1,000A tin roof was blown off of a Carport at Santa Rosa Ranch on the Tohono O'odham Nation due to strong winds from thunderstorms.
July 2006HailSells-A member of the public reported nickel size hail, 0.55 inch, along Highway 86 east of the Village of Sells.
July 2006Flash FloodSells-A trained spotter reported that 2 feet of water was flowing over Route 86. Route 86 was impassable from mile post 97 to mile post 108.
September 2005HailSells-A county official for Central Pima County reported near golf ball size hail (1.75 inches) at the Village of South Komelick along Indian Route 19, 5 miles north of Coulic.
July 2004Flash FloodSells-Law enforcement reported that the road between Topowa Village and Fresnal Canyon were impassible due to high water.
September 2004Flash FloodSells-Law Enforcement reported that several washes were overflowing near milepost 21 and 22 of Indian Route 15.
September 2004Flash FloodSells-Tohono O'ohdam sheriff dispatch reported that Route 19 was closed due to high water.
June 2000Flash FloodSells-3 Feet of water covering highway 19 south of Sells.
June 2000Flash FloodSells-Several roads closed due to flooding.
August 2000Flash FloodSells-Vamori wash had a 5 foot wall of water moving downstream. Low water corssings on highway 19 were covered and impassable.
September 2002HailSells-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Pima County

Newspapers printed here

1,197 digitised pages

2 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 110 issues, 1,197 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

NewspaperPublished
Papago Indian News1954 to 19??
Papago Newsletter1953 to 19??

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
Artesa1.8 miles17
Ali Chukson4.3 miles17
Chukson4.5 miles17
Chiawuli Tak5.6 miles17
Ali Molina5.7 miles17
Wickchoupai6.7 miles18
Topawa7.4 miles16
Santa Cruz8.6 miles18

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 SellsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2140577The 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 11073. 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.