Whetstone, Arizona
25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Sierra Vista census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85616. The Survey maps it on the Huachuca City quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 25 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.
- 1915 USGS Benson quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1938 USGS Huachuca quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Benson quadrangle1:125000
- 1948 USGS Fort Huachuca quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Fort Huachuca NE quadrangle1:24000
- 1956 USGS Nogales quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Fort Huachuca quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Huachuca City quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Huachuca Vista quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Nogales quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Nogales quadrangle1:250000
- 1994 USGS Fort Huachuca quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1996 USGS Huachuca City quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
49 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 49 fires within 5 miles of Whetstone between 1993 and 2019, burning about 3,446 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 1 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 | 29 |
| Natural | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 September 1995 | Natural | 2.5 acres | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | not named |
| 3 August 2001 | Natural | 3.0 acres | Gila District Office | SANDS |
| 27 August 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Coronado National Forest | MINE |
| 16 August 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | HWY 90 MM 305 |
| 5 July 2003 | Smoking | 5.0 acres | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | SPRINGS |
| 3 July 2014 | Natural | under an acre | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | STRIKE |
| 29 July 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | not named |
| 24 July 1994 | Natural | under an acre | Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - State Office | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Whetstone: 3 occurrences, 1 past producer, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gypsum-Anhydrite, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Townsend Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Twin Butte Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Southern Whetstone Mountains | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Occurrence | Gypsum, Selenite | |
| Southern Whetstone Mtns Gypsum | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Mineral Location | Gypsum-Anhydrite | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
6 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Whetstone in 6 storm reports between 2007 and 2024: 3 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2020 | Flash Flood | Whetstone | $35,000 | Over two inches of rain fell in one hour and nearly three inches in about two hours southwest of Saint David prior to midnight, but flash flooding continued into September 9th. Flash flooding occurred over a small stretch of Highway 90 north of Kartchner Caverns and eastward to the western reaches of Saint David where both Sabin and Patton Roads were closed due to flooding. Significant sedimentation caused one small stream to widen beyond its normal reaches, flooding several yards and two homes. Route 80 northwest of Saint David was also flooded as the culvert became overwhelmed by sediment and flood waters. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Whetstone | $3,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew apart a carport in Whetstone. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Whetstone | $2,000 | Flash flooding occurred in Whetstone at an RV dealership mainly impacting the maintenance bays. |
| September 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Whetstone | $1,000 | Uprooted tree at the Loves Truck Stop at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Highway 90 found on social media. |
| September 2019 | Flash Flood | Whetstone | - | Heavy rain of around 2 inches in less than 6 hours caused several roads to become flooded in Saint David, Huachuca City and Sierra Vista. |
| December 2008 | Hail | Whetstone | - | Small hail resulted in numerous accidents on Highway 90 south of Benson. One of these accidents resulted in the fatality as a truck slid off the road into a concrete culvert. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campstone | 4.5 miles | 25 | |
| Huachuca City | 5.6 miles | 25 | |
| Boquillas | 7.8 miles | 21 | |
| Benson Junction | 8.3 miles | 21 | |
| Fairbank (historical) | 8.6 miles | 21 | |
| Contention | 8.9 miles | 21 | |
| Miles Manor | 10.4 miles | 26 | |
| Apache Flats | 10.4 miles | 26 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 2652386. 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.












