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Tecopa, California

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1933 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the Death Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92389. It stands on Tecopa Wash. The Survey maps it on the Tecopa quadrangle. 120 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,339 feet above sea level.

Tecopa within Inyo County

Then and now

1933 to 1993

The same ground, surveyed 60 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Tecopa, surveyed 1993
Topographic sheet of Tecopa, surveyed 1933

Population over time

2 figures

Tecopa fell from 150 to 120 between 2010 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
2010150
2020120-30 (-20%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 21 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

5 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Tecopa between 1996 and 2018, burning about 253 acres in total. 2 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
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Debris and open burning1

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
11 September 2017Natural30 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictTECOPA
28 August 2010Natural106 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictTECOPA
16 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictTECOPA
5 March 2002Recreation and ceremony110 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictTECOPA
11 October 1996Debris and open burning6.0 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictLAGOON

Every fire recorded in Inyo County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 18 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Tecopa: 7 past producers, 4 prospects, 3 producers, 2 occurrences. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Talc-Soapstone, Silica, Zeolites, Bentonite. 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
Black Raven ProspectCopperProspect
Blue DickLead, Zinc, Silver, Copper, GoldPast ProducerReplacement
Blue DickLead, Copper, Silver, ZincPast Producer
BoraxBoron-BoratesPast Producer
Gypsum RockGypsum-AnhydritePast Producer
Ibex-BentoniteBentonitePast Producer
Tecopa Community PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Tecopa Hot SpringGeothermalOccurrence
Tecopa Pit and MillStone, DimensionProducer
Upper Canyon Nitrate DepositNitrogen-NitratesProspect

Every working recorded in Inyo County

Storms near this place

9 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tecopa in 9 storm reports between 2008 and 2024: 7 flash flood, 1 hail, 1 flood. 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
December 2010Flash FloodTecopa$500,000The community of Tecopa was completely cut off when the only three paved roads into and out of the town were flooded. More than 18 inches of water flowed across one road for two days straight.
February 2024FloodTecopa$50,000Numerous roads in Inyo County were closed due to flooding/washouts. The times were estimated. One vehicle got stuck in the flooding.
September 2008Flash FloodTecopa$25,000Highway 127 was flooded 10 miles south of Shoshone. A deputy lost his patrol car in the floodwaters, which he estimated to be at least 20 inches deep in two places.
October 2015Flash FloodTecopa$10,000Highway 127 was flooded at Inyo County mile marker 8. One vehicle was overturned.
July 2017Flash FloodTecopa$2,000Debris flowed over Old Spanish Trail Highway.
July 2021Flash FloodTecopa$1,000Highway 127 was flooded.
September 2017Flash FloodTecopa$1,000Highway 127 was flooded at Old Spanish Trail.
August 2014Flash FloodTecopa$1,000Water six to seven inches deep flowed over Highway 127.
October 2012HailTecopa-A spotter in Charleston View measured one inch hail.

Every storm recorded in Inyo 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
Shoshone8.9 miles20
Charleston View19.2 miles26
Calvada Springs19.4 miles26
Evelyn21.1 miles24
Ashford Junction24.1 miles21
Ashford Mill (historical)24.8 miles21
Greenwater (historical)30.8 miles24
Lila C (historical)30.8 miles24

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 TecopaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2090811The 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 250293. 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.