Lapwai, Idaho
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Nez Perce census division. It lies in ZIP code area 83540. It lies near Soldiers Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Lapwai quadrangle. 1,169 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 955 feet above sea level.
On record in Lapwai
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
First Lapwai Banklisted 1980
First Presbyterian Churchlisted 1980
Population over time
2 figuresLapwai grew from 1,137 to 1,169 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 | 1,137 | |
| 2020 | 1,169 | +32 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 10 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.
- 1955 USGS Pullman quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Lapwai quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Lewiston Orchards quadrangle1:62500
- 1958 USGS Pullman quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Orofino quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
276 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 276 fires within 5 miles of Lapwai between 1992 and 2020, burning about 10,795 acres in total. 14 started naturally. 5 were 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 |
|---|---|
| Fireworks | 94 |
| Debris and open burning | 41 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 38 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 |
| Smoking | 16 |
| Natural | 14 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 11 |
| Other causes | 9 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
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 2005 | Fireworks | under an acre | Nez Perce Tribe | OVERTHILL |
| 8 September 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 2.0 acres | Nez Perce Tribe | BOOM GROUNDS RR |
| 7 September 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Nez Perce Tribe | SWEETWATER |
| 7 September 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nez Perce Tribe | CARVALLEY |
| 7 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nez Perce Tribe | PUMPKINFIR |
| 7 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Nez Perce Tribe | BOYER |
| 6 September 1995 | Natural | 80 acres | Nez Perce Tribe | LYLEGULCH |
| 30 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nez Perce Tribe | ROCKY TOP |
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 Lapwai: 5 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spalding Pit | Stone | Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
12 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lapwai in 12 storm reports between 1998 and 2022: 4 flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 flash flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lapwai | 1 hurt, $25,000 | power lines down and trees blown down. one tree blown down onto trailer house. 1 male injured. |
| May 2005 | Flash Flood | Lapwai | $4,000,000 | A slow moving thunderstorm moved 2 miles east of the town of Lapwai on the afternoon of the 8th of May. An estimated 2 to 3 inches fell across the headwaters of Garden Gulch Creek in about an hour. A flash flood then raced through Garden Gulch and flooded out structures, killed some livestock and washed out roads to the intersection of State Route 95 and Garden Gulch Road. An estimated 4 million dollars in property and roads was estimated in a five mile swath along Garden Gulch. |
| April 2011 | Flood | North Lapwai | $600,000 | Flooding of several creeks and streams resulted in damage, closures, and evacuations along numerous roads along with minor flooding of six homes. Roads that were damaged include Webb Road, McCormack Ridge Road, Garden Gulch Road near Highway 95, Cottonwood Creek Road, Flatiron Road, and Mission Creek Road near Highway 95. Reservation Line Road and Webb Canal Road were also closed for a short time due to flooding. The worst of the flooding occurred along Webb Creek which flooded several low-lying areas, including the junction with Highway 95 and the junction with McCormick Ridge Road where reports stated water covered the bridge at the junction of McCormick Ridge Road. The Web Store Smoke Shop was inundated with approximately one foot of water. Around six homes along Webb Road experienced flooding up to the homes foundations. Mission Creek also spilled out of its banks with water reported to be flowing down Mission Creek Road, over the Mission Creek Bridge, and into nearby pastures and front yards. Sweetwater Creek, Lapwai Creek and Cottonwood Creek also had minor flooding with the Spalding church suffering the greatest damage. A culvert was plugged along Lapwai Creek near the intersection of Highway 95 and Garden Gulch Road causing road damage and a two day road closure. A plugged culvert along Sweetwater Creek led to approximately 30 feet of pavement erosion along Flatiron Road and 1500 feet of ditch and shoulder erosion. The Emergency Manager of Nez Perce County estimated flood damage to the roads was around $74,000 with most of the damage along Flatiron Road and Garden Gulch Road near Highway 95. On the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, at least one septic tank was compromised due to flooding. The flooding caused basement flooding in at least four homes throughout the reservation. Two private bridges were destroyed or compromised and classified as unsafe for use. |
| June 2022 | Flood | Lapwai | $20,000 | The Lapwai church is flooded. it was unknown how deep the water was and extent of damage. |
| April 2019 | Flood | Lapwai | $2,000 | Lapwai Creek flooded bottom lands and flowed over Highway 95 in places between Lapwai and Culdesac causing the temporary closure of this primary route through the region. A few homes were threatened by the flood waters but no damage to any structures was reported. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lapwai | $1,000 | The Nez Perce County Emergency Manager reported power lines blown down in the town of Lapwai. |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lapwai | $1,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down large tree branches southwest of Lapwai and blew down road signs near Culdesac. This thunderstorm also stirred up large amounts of blowing dust which reduced visibility to near zero at times. |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | Lapwai | $100 | Law enforcement reported water over painted horse lane in Lapwai, Idaho. |
| June 2022 | Flood | North Lapwai | - | Flooding over banks of clearwater river at the intersection of highway 12 and highway 95. |
| July 2012 | Hail | Lapwai | - | The report was from Valley Gas in Lapwai. |
| July 2012 | Hail | Lapwai | - | Report from Nez Perce Tribal Police. |
| May 2009 | Hail | Lapwai | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweetwater | 2.3 miles | 9 | |
| Spalding | 3.0 miles | 10 | |
| North Lapwai | 3.1 miles | 10 | |
| Joseph | 3.2 miles | 10 | |
| Bundy | 3.9 miles | 9 | |
| Webb | 4.5 miles | 9 | |
| Jacques | 4.7 miles | 9 | |
| Arrow | 5.4 miles | 10 |
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 Lapwai | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1518002 | 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 396768. 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.




