Porthill, Idaho
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1911 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Bonners Ferry census division. It lies in ZIP code area 83805. It stands on Boundary Creek. The Survey maps it on the Copeland quadrangle. It stands 1,814 feet above sea level.
On record in Porthill
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 1 record
U.S. Inspection Station-Porthill, Idaholisted 2014
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 13 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.
- 1911 USGS Priest Lake quadrangle1:250000
- 1913 USGS Priest Lake quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Sandpoint quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Sandpoint quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Copeland quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1983 USGS Bonners Ferry quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1996 USGS Copeland quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
24 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 24 fires within 5 miles of Porthill between 1992 and 2019, burning about 41 acres in total. 15 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 | 15 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Payette National Forest | LOST CREEK |
| 6 September 1995 | Natural | under an acre | Idaho Department of Lands | DOUGLAS FIRE |
| 22 August 1998 | Natural | under an acre | Idaho Panhandle National Forest | SMITH ORCHARD |
| 21 August 2019 | Natural | under an acre | Idaho Panhandle National Forest | WEST ZION |
| 21 August 1997 | Natural | under an acre | Idaho Panhandle National Forest | ITALIAN |
| 20 August 2019 | Natural | under an acre | Idaho Panhandle National Forest | ZION CREEK |
| 19 August 2008 | Natural | 1.6 acres | Idaho Panhandle National Forest | HALL MT |
| 19 August 2008 | Natural | under an acre | Idaho Panhandle National Forest | HALL MT NORTH |
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 13 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Porthill: 6 occurrences, 3 unknowns, 2 prospects, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Thorium, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver, Lead, Lead, Gold, Copper, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Berringer Prospect | Thorium, Uranium, Copper | Occurrence | Copper | |
| Golden Sceptre Mine | Thorium, Lead, Gold, Copper, Silver | Prospect | 1955 | |
| Hall Mountain | Thorium, Copper, REE, Uranium | Past Producer | 1939 | |
| N. W. Prospecting & Development Prospect | REE, Thorium | Occurrence | 1955 | |
| Porthill District | Silver, Lead | Occurrence | REPLACEMENT VEIN | |
| Scheller Prospect | Thorium, REE, Uranium | Prospect | 1955 | |
| Wawa Claims | Thorium, REE | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Borrow Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Borrow Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
3 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Porthill in 3 storm reports between 1998 and 2012: 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2012 | Flood | Porthill | - | High flows out of Libby Dam in northwest Montana resulted in widespread flooding along the Kootenai River in and around Bonners Ferry and downstream to the Canadian Border. Flooding along the river began on June 25th and carried over through the beginning of July. Damage occurred along the city dikes in Bonners Ferry. Volunteers had to shore up 500 feet of levy behind the Kootenai River Inn to prevent water from spilling in. Water filled sub-surface storage areas of the General Feed and Grain located near the river in Bonners Ferry. Sloughing of dikes downstream of Bonners Ferry was observed as well. This resulted in an extensive amount of water seepage into farm lands throughout the Kootenai River valley. Over 5,000 acres of farm land was damaged resulting in four million dollars in crop damage. |
| June 1998 | Flash Flood | Porthill | - | 2.02 inches of rain at bonners ferry and 1.98 inches at porthill. Parker Creek had some flooding |
| July 2006 | Hail | Porthill | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copeland | 8.8 miles | 13 | |
| Ritz | 16.6 miles | 13 | |
| Eastport | 16.8 miles | 11 | |
| Good Grief | 17.3 miles | 11 | |
| Sinclair | 17.7 miles | 11 | |
| Addie | 17.8 miles | 11 | |
| Allens Spur | 19.1 miles | 12 | |
| Threemile Corner | 21.2 miles | 12 |
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 Porthill | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7231777 | 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 397059. 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.






