Silver Bell, Arizona
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Marana census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85653. It lies near Portland Ridge (historical). The Survey maps it on the Silver Bell West quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 15 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.
- 1934 USGS Silver Bell quadrangle1:125000
- 1956 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Vaca Hills quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000
- 1989 USGS Silver Bell West quadrangle1:24000
- 1994 USGS Silver Bell Mountains quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1996 USGS Silver Bell West quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
18 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 18 fires within 5 miles of Silver Bell between 1992 and 2019, burning about 1,960 acres in total. 4 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 | 8 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 August 1993 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | not named |
| 16 July 2011 | Natural | under an acre | Gila District Office | WATERMAN |
| 9 June 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 200 acres | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | not named |
| 25 June 2008 | Natural | 2.0 acres | Papago Agency | WATERMAN |
| 18 June 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Northwest Fire Rescue District | NOT NAMED |
| 11 June 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 acres | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | not named |
| 11 June 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | not named |
| 26 May 2005 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Papago Agency | SILVER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 71 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 71 workings within 5 miles of Silver Bell: 40 occurrences, 16 past producers, 9 producers, 5 unknowns. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Copper, Barium-Barite, Molybdenum, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlas Alice Group | Copper, Gold, Silver, Zinc | Unknown | ||
| Atlas Elizibeth Group | Gold, Silver, Zinc, Copper | Unknown | ||
| Atlas Mine | Zinc, Copper, Silver, Gold, Lead, Wollastonite | Past Producer | 1915, 1964 | |
| Atlas Mine | Zinc, Gold, Lead, Silver, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Carlo & Eclipse Mines | Silica, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | 1955, 1963 | |
| Carlo and Eclipse Mines | Copper, Silica, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Clarence Amended Group | Lead, Silver, Zinc, Copper | Unknown | ||
| Crepin Group | Silver, Copper, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| El Tiro Open Pit Mine | Copper, Gold, Lead, Silver, Molybdenum | Past Producer | 1954 | |
| Eloise | Silver, Gold | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Silver Bell in 9 storm reports between 2007 and 2024: 4 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 tornado. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2015 | Hail | Silver Bell | $50,000 | Hail up to the size of golf balls damaged several ultralight aircraft an airport near Picture Rocks. |
| July 2021 | Flash Flood | Silver Bell | $5,000 | Two inches of rain in 2 hours north of Three Points caused flooding of roadways west of Picture Rocks. A vehicle was stranded in floodwaters on Tucker Road at the Blanco Wash. |
| July 2012 | Flash Flood | Silver Bell | $5,000 | Heavy rain in the northwest part of the Tucson metropolitan area caused extensive urban flash flooding. Portions of Shannon, Magee, La Cholla and Sandario Roads were closed. A person was rescued from their vehicle stranded in flood waters on Sandario Road in Marana. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silver Bell | $500 | A heavy wooden tree house was damaged by thunderstorm winds near Avra Valley Rd. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silver Bell | - | A personal weather station reported a wind gust of 58 MPH. |
| August 2023 | Tornado (EF0) | Silver Bell | - | Trained spotters submitted a video of a landspout tornado. Location estimated to be in an open area near Orange Grove Road and Blanco Wash Trail. |
| August 2019 | Flash Flood | Silver Bell | - | A pocket of 1 to 2 inches of rain fell in less than an hour in Ironwood Forest National Monument. This caused 2 to 3 feet of water to flow across West Silverbell Road. |
| September 2018 | Flash Flood | Silver Bell | - | Tucker Rd at Blanca Wash was impassable with 3 feet of water running over the road. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Silver Bell | - | A trained spotter recorded a measured wind gust to 63 mph. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silverbell | 3.8 miles | 15 | |
| Skoksonak | 6.4 miles | 15 | |
| Quinlin | 10.4 miles | 15 | |
| Avra Valley | 10.5 miles | 16 | |
| Queens Well | 10.6 miles | 15 | |
| Nelson | 12.6 miles | 16 | |
| Dobson | 12.7 miles | 16 | |
| Picture Rocks | 13.7 miles | 19 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 11314. 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.









