Church Rock, New Mexico
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Red Rock census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87311. The Survey maps it on the Church Rock quadrangle. 1,542 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,686 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresChurch Rock grew from 1,077 to 1,542 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,077 | |
| 2010 | 1,128 | +51 (+5%) |
| 2020 | 1,542 | +414 (+37%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 15 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.
- 1886 USGS Wingate quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Wingate quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Gallup quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Gallup quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Gallup quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Gallup quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Church Rock quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1967 USGS Gallup quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Gallup quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
3 since 2004Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Church Rock between 2004 and 2020, burning about 1 acre in total. None 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 | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 June 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Bernalillo District | 20-61880691X |
| 15 June 2004 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | SPRNGSTD-1 |
| 11 June 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Bernalillo District | 20-61770642X |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 30 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 30 workings within 5 miles of Church Rock: 16 unknowns, 14 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Uranium, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Uranium, Vanadium, Geothermal. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Wingate Army Depot Well | Geothermal | Unknown | ||
| Becenti Mine | Uranium, Vanadium | Past Producer | ||
| Diamond No. 2 Mine | Uranium, Vanadium | Past Producer | 1952, 1953, 1970 | |
| Foutz No. 1 and No. 2 Mines | Uranium, Vanadium | Past Producer | 1953, 1954 | |
| Foutz No. 3 Mine | Uranium, Vanadium | Past Producer | 1953, 1955 | |
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
8 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Church Rock in 8 storm reports between 2005 and 2022: 8 flash flood. The reports record 2 deaths. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2006 | Flash Flood | Church Rock | 2 killed | A man and his young son drowned when their vehicle was swept down stream trying to cross a flooded arroyo near Church Rock. Officials reported other people escaping without injuries as their vehicles also became trapped at flooded road crossings across west central and northwest McKinley County. A clogged drainage ditch also overflowed onto Interstate 40 near Gallup with mud and debris causing a closure of the westbound lanes. Several people escaped without injury when a mobile home located next to an arroyo tipped as storm water undercut the sandy bank of the arroyo. In general, storms yielded only about one half inch to three quarters inch of rain in about 30 minutes, but it was enough to fill numerous small arroyos and ditches with shallow and fast moving water. |
| July 2010 | Flash Flood | Church Rock | $120,000 | Significant amounts of water flowed over Thompson Bridge on Telstar Road in Church Rock which eventually caused the bridge to collapse. The bridge served as the only way in and out of the Church Rock community. Other portions of this road were covered in up to 3 feet of mud. Challenger Road, which leads up to the elementary school, was covered with up to 5 feet of mud. Superman Canyon Road, Old Church Rock Coal Road and Becenti Trail were also washed out. |
| August 2014 | Flash Flood | Church Rock | $100,000 | Local news reported that the city of Church Rock was flooded after heavy rainfall. Multiple roads were washed out with access to homes cut off. A few homes were flooded in the area and that the main water line broke under the pressure of all the rushing water. The community was still cleaning up three days after the event. |
| August 2022 | Flash Flood | Church Rock | - | Heavy rain near Church Rock forced the closure of Interstate 40 in both directions at mile marker 33. |
| July 2022 | Flash Flood | Church Rock | - | Heavy rain in the Church Rock and Fort Wingate areas caused flash flooding along Interstate 40 and New Mexico State Highway 118 as reported by the New Mexico Department of Transportation. There are no known damages. |
| July 2018 | Flash Flood | Church Rock | - | Flood waters running over SR-566 between mile markers 5 and 6. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Church Rock | - | Flash flooding over portions of state road 118 between Church Rock and Wingate. Road closed. |
| September 2005 | Flash Flood | Church Rock | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| McCune | 0.6 miles | 15 | |
| White Cliffs | 0.9 miles | 15 | |
| Navajo Wingate Village | 1.1 miles | 15 | |
| Zuni | 1.9 miles | 15 | |
| Rehoboth | 2.9 miles | 15 | |
| Wingate | 3.2 miles | 15 | |
| Perea | 4.7 miles | 15 | |
| Sundance | 5.5 miles | 16 |
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 Church Rock | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2381943 | 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 902212. 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.








