Nipton, California
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Newberry Springs-Baker census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92364. The Survey maps it on the Nipton quadrangle. It stands 3,031 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1910 to 1985The same ground, surveyed 75 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Nipton
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 4 records
- Barnwell Corral and Wellslisted 2021
- Barnwell RSLCC Headquarterslisted 2021
- Dove Corrallisted 2021
- Murphy Well Corrallisted 2021
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 27 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.
- 1910 USGS Ivanpah quadrangle1:250000
- 1912 USGS Ivanpah quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1942 USGS Ivanpah quadrangle1:250000
- 1947 USGS Kingman quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Kingman quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Kingman quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1955 USGS Kingman quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Ivanpah quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Kingman quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Kingman quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1983 USGS Nipton quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Ivanpah quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
10 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Nipton between 1993 and 2016, burning about 103 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Desert District | LOST |
| 10 September 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Mojave National Preserve | TRACK |
| 6 August 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Mojave National Preserve | ORANGE |
| 5 August 2016 | Natural | under an acre | California Desert District | NIPTON |
| 5 August 1993 | Natural | 102 acres | Joshua Tree National Monument | LANDFARE |
| 28 July 1996 | Natural | under an acre | Mojave National Preserve | NIPTON#2 |
| 19 July 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Desert District | NIPTON |
| 12 July 2008 | Natural | under an acre | Southern Nevada District Office | SEARCHLIGHT |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 23 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 23 workings within 5 miles of Nipton: 16 prospects, 7 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Lead, Fluorine-Fluorite, Copper, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B. T. Prospect | Gold, Zinc, Lead | Prospect | ||
| Blue Crystal Prospect | Gold, Fluorine-Fluorite, Silver | Prospect | ||
| Crescent Peak | Feldspar | Past Producer | ||
| Helen Prospect | Zinc | Prospect | ||
| Nipton | Fluorine-Fluorite, Gold, Silver, Zinc | Prospect | ||
| Nu-Lite Insulated Homes Inc. Mine | Perlite | Past Producer | ||
| San E Lani No. 1 | Lead, Barium-Barite, Zinc | Prospect | ||
| Sani Lani Prospect | Lead, Silver, Zinc | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Shaft | Gold, Copper, Fluorine-Fluorite | Prospect | ||
| Whitehorse | Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper | Prospect |
Storms near this place
9 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nipton in 9 storm reports between 1998 and 2020: 7 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1998 | Flash Flood | Nipton | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Flash Flood | Nipton | $5,000 | The California Highway Patrol reported that the Nipton Road was flooded out between Interstate 15 and the town of Nipton. Nearby Cima Road was also closed with a car trapped in a wash. There were no injuries. |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nipton | $5,000 | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Flash Flood | Nipton | $1,000 | Nipton Road was flooded. |
| September 2009 | Flash Flood | Nipton | - | Water and debris flowed across Nipton Rd. at the Nipton Trading Post. |
| September 2004 | Flash Flood | Nipton | - | Flash flooding near Nipton caused Nipton Rd to be completely washed out and impassable. |
| September 2004 | Flash Flood | Nipton | - | Flash flooding caused several roads to be closed near the town of Nipton. Rocks and debris covered the road in several locations. |
| September 2004 | Flash Flood | Nipton | - | Law enforcement reported Ivanpah and Nipton roads were closed due to flash flooding. |
| August 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Nipton | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moore | 5.3 miles | 27 | |
| Ivanpah | 8.9 miles | 27 | |
| Calada | 9.4 miles | 27 | |
| Vanderbilt | 9.5 miles | 27 | |
| Wheaton Springs | 10.8 miles | 26 | |
| Juan | 12.0 miles | 27 | |
| Barnwell | 12.1 miles | 26 | |
| Brant | 13.2 miles | 27 |
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 Nipton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3474639 | The 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 246562. 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.











