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Plains, Montana

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1956 and the latest in 1999. It stands in the Plains census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59859. It stands on Boyer Creek. The Survey maps it on the Plains quadrangle. 1,106 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,477 feet above sea level.

Plains within Sanders County

Population over time

2 figures

Plains grew from 1,048 to 1,106 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
20101,048
20201,106+58 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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

246 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 246 fires within 5 miles of Plains between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,309 acres in total. 58 started naturally. 8 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined79
Natural58
Debris and open burning38
Recreation and ceremony29
Railroad operations and maintenance16
Equipment and vehicle use14
Arson/incendiarism8
Smoking2
Fireworks1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
8 September 2018Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeFOX FARMS 3
8 September 1995Naturalunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficePARADISE GULCH # 2
7 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNorthwestern Land Officenot named
5 September 1999Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeR.R. MM-11
5 September 1995Naturalunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeROGERS PASS
3 September 2018Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeFOX FARMS 2
3 September 2015Smokingunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeHWY 22 MM 74
3 September 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreNorthwestern Land OfficeWEST FORK COMBEST

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sanders County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Plains: 4 prospects, 4 past producers, 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Lead, Gold, Lead, Silver, Copper. 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
LettermanSilver, Gold, LeadProspect
Montro Gold MinesLead, Silver, Copper, GoldProspectVein
Montro Gold MinesLead, Silver, Gold, CopperProducer
Montro Gold MinesLead, Copper, Gold, SilverPast Producer
Unnamed Flagstone QuarryFlagstonePast Producer
Clark Bros. Universal #1.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Letterman MineGold, Lead, Silver, CopperPast Producer1911, 1940
Montana PremierGold, Lead, SilverUnknown
Scotts PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Silver and Copper ProspectSilver, CopperProspect

Every working recorded in Sanders County

Storms near this place

6 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Plains in 6 storm reports between 2002 and 2023: 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. 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
August 2022Thunderstorm WindPlains-Strong winds snapped large limbs, estimated near 4 inches in diameter, off trees.
May 2023HailPlains-no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindPlains-no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindPlains-no account filed
July 2004Thunderstorm WindPlains-no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindPlains-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sanders 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
Paradise6.5 miles9
Blanchards Corner6.7 miles7
Weeksville7.3 miles7
Island City (historical)8.4 miles8
Donlan9.4 miles8
Quinns10.3 miles8
Knowles11.9 miles9
Camas Prairie14.6 miles8

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 PlainsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q962882The 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 788983. 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.