Cheraw, Colorado
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Cheraw census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81030. The Survey maps it on the Cheraw quadrangle. 237 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,131 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresCheraw fell from 252 to 237 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 252 | |
| 2020 | 237 | -15 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 16 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.
- 1891 USGS Catlin quadrangle1:125000
- 1893 USGS Catlin quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1953 USGS Cheraw quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Lamar quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Lamar quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Las Animas quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
61 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 61 fires within 5 miles of Cheraw between 1994 and 2019, burning about 634 acres in total. 3 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 | 41 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 August 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 8 August 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 17 August 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | LA JUNTA |
| 9 July 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | La Junta Rural Fire Protection District | UNKNOWN |
| 7 July 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 4.0 acres | San Miguel County | not named |
| 4 July 2019 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 4 July 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | La Junta Rural Fire Protection District | UNKNOWN |
| 4 July 2013 | Fireworks | under an acre | La Junta Rural Fire Protection District | UNKNOWN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Cheraw: 2 unknowns, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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.
Storms near this place
30 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cheraw in 30 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 21 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 1 heavy rain. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2024 | Hail | Cheraw | - | One inch measured hail was reported. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cheraw | - | A trained spotter reported an 8 inch live tree limb blown off. Another dead tree was also blown down. 3/4 inch hail also occurred. |
| July 2022 | Heavy Rain | Cheraw | - | Heavy rainfall of 1.87 inches. |
| May 2020 | Tornado (EFU) | Cheraw | - | Colorado State Trooper witnessed a tornado/landspout north of Cheraw, CO. The tornado stayed over open land and did not produce any damage. |
| June 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Cheraw | - | A tornado formed in Crowley County at 1735 MST, 8.1 miles east-southeast of Sugar City and moved into Otero County 8.9 miles east-southeast of Sugar City, or 6.5 miles north of Cheraw at 1736 MST. The tornado traveled another 0.35 miles to the east and dissipated at 1737 MST, 9.25 miles east-southeast of Sugar City, or 6.4 miles north of Cheraw. |
| October 1997 | Tornado (F0) | Cheraw | - | The same supercell thunderstorm that brought large hail to the La Junta area, generated a brief tornado in a rural area of northeast Otero county. It broke off a power pole and caused no other known damage. |
| October 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cheraw | - | The supercell thunderstorm that struck central Las Animas county with high winds and a probable tornado weakened as it moved northeast through Otero county. But then it became severe and produced 3/4 inch diameter hail just to the southeast of La Junta, and a 58 mph wind gust at Cheraw in northeast Otero county. There was no known damage in Cheraw. |
| May 1995 | Hail | Cheraw | - | ,,,,,,,,Thunderstorm Winds (G70) |
| August 2022 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| September 2017 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| September 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| May 1999 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Hail | Cheraw | - | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Hail | Cheraw | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orr | 1.3 miles | 16 | |
| Castiel | 2.5 miles | 15 | |
| Randall | 3.8 miles | 16 | |
| La Junta Village | 4.9 miles | 16 | |
| Shelton | 5.3 miles | 16 | |
| Hays | 6.2 miles | 16 | |
| Old Fort Bent (historical) | 6.3 miles | 15 | |
| Casa | 7.0 miles | 15 |
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 Cheraw | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q594462 | 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 195498. 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.





