De Beque, Colorado
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1929 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the De Beque census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81630. It stands on Horsethief Creek. The Survey maps it on the De Beque quadrangle. 493 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,951 feet above sea level.
On record in De Beque
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 2 records
Colorado River Bridgelisted 2002
IOOF Halllisted 1993
Population over time
2 figuresDe Beque fell from 504 to 493 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 | 504 | |
| 2020 | 493 | -11 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 17 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.
- 1929 USGS Grand Valley quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Grand Junction quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Grand Junction quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Grand Junction quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS De Beque quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1962 USGS Grand Junction quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Grand Junction quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Grand Junction quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Grand Junction quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
195 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 195 fires within 5 miles of De Beque between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,009 acres in total. 118 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 118 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 |
| Smoking | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 7 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | DEBEQUE |
| 7 September 1993 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Grand Junction | SMITH GLCH |
| 6 September 2007 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Grand Junction | LOGAN |
| 5 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.1 acres | DeBeque Volunteer Fire Department | N/A |
| 4 September 2020 | Other causes | 3.1 acres | Mesa County | DEBEQUE |
| 27 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 24 September 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Northwest District, Grand Junction | HIGHWAY 6 |
| 17 September 2009 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Grand Junction | TRAIL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of De Beque: 1 producer. All of them still produce. 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.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nichols Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
16 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names De Beque in 16 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 3 flood, 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2011 | Flood | De Beque | $125,000 | Many area waterways in Western Colorado, including the Colorado River, were running at or near bank full conditions to begin June as runoff was enhanced by warming temperatures over a record snow pack. Flood advisories for the Colorado River were in place all of June across Mesa County from near De Beque to the Utah state line. Flood warnings were first issued near Cameo on June 5th, and except for a brief lowering below the flood stagt from the 19th to the 23rd, the warning stayed in place through the end of the month. Minor flooding and bank erosion were experienced from De Beque to the confluence with the Gunnison River in Grand Junction. Some city recreational trails along the river washed away. Within River Bend State Park near Palisade a service road eroded away and part of the disk golf course was washed away. In some areas up to 20 feet of bank was lost to the river and a few homes in Grand Junction and Palisade reported water in the basement from the high water table. ||The Colorado River, from the confluence with the Gunnison River in Grand Junction to the Utah State line was in flood stage from June 7th to June 11th, peaking on the 8th. In numerous places the river flooded low lying areas and approached Interstate 70. The water came within a few inches of closing the I-70 bridge near Skippers Island. A few sections of the river between Fruita and Loma lost between 20 to 30 feet of bank and some utilities were washed out. Multiple agencies and businesses worked to mitigate the flooding problems. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | $100,000 | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | $15,000 | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Flood | De Beque | - | Heavy rain from thunderstorms resulted in minor flooding/ponding of water on portions of I-70 near mile marker 56 going east towards De Beque. |
| May 2020 | Hail | De Beque | - | A severe thunderstorm produced large hail estimated to be the size of quarters south-southeast of De Beque. Dispatch reported numerous vehicles had to shelter under the highway overpass due to the large hail on Interstate 70 south of De Beque with resulting slowdowns on the highway. |
| May 2020 | Hail | De Beque | - | A severe thunderstorm produced large hail measured to be the size of half dollars south-southeast of De Beque. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | - | A peak wind gust of 99 mph was measured by the Great Divide automated weather station. |
| July 2016 | Heavy Rain | De Beque | - | Showers and thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall near De Beque, with 1.06 inches measured at one location within three hours. The heavy rain quickly filled up nearby ditches with water. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | De Beque | - | Mudslides and flooding closed westbound I-70 from near DeBeque to mile marker 70 for several hours. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | - | Thunderstorms moving near the Interstate 70 corridor above DeBeque Canyon produced severe wind gusts. |
| July 2011 | Flood | De Beque | - | Flood warnings were in effect for the main stem Colorado River from near DeBeque to Grand Junction on the 1st of July when the river peaked at 13.41 feet. The river then began a slow descent through the remainder of the month, though it fluctuated to advisory levels through July 11th. Minor flooding and bank erosion along the river from DeBeque to the Colorado-Utah state line continued through the first part of the month due to the fast flows and near bankfull conditions. |
| July 2007 | Heavy Rain | De Beque | - | Heavy rain producing thunderstorms resulted in 2 to 3 inches of water to flow over County Road 45.5 at Shire Gulch. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Hail | De Beque | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Wildfire | De Beque | - | no account filed |
| September 1997 | Funnel Cloud | De Beque | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akin | 6.1 miles | 15 | |
| Mesa | 12.3 miles | 16 | |
| Molina | 13.0 miles | 15 | |
| Cameo | 14.0 miles | 16 | |
| Plateau City | 14.1 miles | 13 | |
| John Held Corner | 14.3 miles | 16 | |
| Collbran | 14.9 miles | 13 | |
| Palisade | 17.1 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 De Beque | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2415964 | 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 174334. 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.








