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Monument, New Mexico

5 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Hobbs census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88265. The Survey maps it on the Monument South quadrangle. 213 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,602 feet above sea level.

Monument within Lea County

Population over time

2 figures

Monument grew from 206 to 213 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
2010206
2020213+7 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 5 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

24 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 24 fires within 5 miles of Monument between 1993 and 2018, burning about 2,826 acres 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/undetermined11
Equipment and vehicle use6
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Debris and open burning1
Smoking1

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
31 August 2011Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionAPACHE 2
19 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined2,500 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionAIRPORT
5 July 2016Equipment and vehicle use20 acresCapitan DistrictMADDOX
9 June 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionLINAM
6 May 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMCNEIL
5 May 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry Division81 COMMAND
24 May 2011Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionPIPELINE
19 May 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionSANDOVAL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lea County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 19 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Monument: 18 unknowns, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Sulfur, Clay. 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
Hobbs Natural Gas PlantSulfurProducer
Unnamed Clay PitClayUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Un. Grav. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Lea County

Storms near this place

19 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Monument in 19 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 8 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood, 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2023Thunderstorm WindMonument$250,000A coolant building at Xcel Energy Cunningham Plant was significantly damaged. The estimated wind speed was 130 mph. Property damage cost is an estimation.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindMonument$250,000Approximately 14 larger transmission poles down from Xcel Energy Cunningham Plant and extending 1.2 miles east. Poles were reportedly broken from near the ground to mid-pole. The estimated wind speeds were 125 mph. Property damage cost is an estimation.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindMonument$40,000A thunderstorm moved across Lea County and produced downburst winds in Monument. A mobile home trailer was overturned near the intersection of NM8 and NM42 in Monument. The winds were estimated to have gusted to 50 mph. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindMonument$25,000A roof was blown off a small retail building into a parking lot. The estimated wind speed was 125 MPH. Property damage cost is an estimation.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindMonument$25,000A thunderstorm produced wind damage five miles north of Monument, NM. Trees were uprooted or snapped and a roof was blown off. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.
June 1996Thunderstorm WindMonument$2,000no account filed
August 2016Flash FloodMonument$1,000Heavy rain fell across Lea County and produced flash flooding. Highway 8 between Hobbs and Eunice has been closed due to high water. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.
September 2014FloodMonument$1,000Heavy rain fell across Lea County and produced flooding. Highways 176 and 248 were closed due to this flooding. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.
March 2017HailMonument$500A thunderstorm moved across Lea County and produced hail damage near Monument. A windshield was significantly cracked by the hail. The cost of damage is a rough estimate.
September 2014Flash FloodMonument$400Heavy rain fell across Lea County and produced flash flooding. State Highway 483 was closed between Hobbs and Lovington. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.
July 2023HailMonument-A member of the public shared a photo on Facebook with ping pong ball size hail shown.
June 2005HailMonument-The public reported pea to quarter size hail in Monument.
September 2004Flash FloodMonument-A prolonged period of widespread heavy rainfall began over the plains of southeastern New Mexico late on Saturday the 25th. By the early hours of Sunday the 26th, extensive flash flooding was occurring in Lea County. At 02:30 MST high water was reported flowing over State Highway 483 seven miles south of Lovington. Additional flash flooding occurred along a corridor from Lovington to Monument through early Monday the 27th. Before daybreak Sunday morning, flash flooding caused high water to inundate State Highway 8, four miles north of Monument. A swollen draw near monument also produced flash flooding that covered several secondary roadways with flowing water.Showers and thunderstorms continued to move northwest over Lea County during the afternoon and early evening hours. Numerous roads and highways in the vicinity of Lovington were affected by flash flooding by 20:00 MST. Flood waters submerged U.S. Highway 82 from Lovington to three miles west of the city. A short-lived break in convective activity occurred during the late evening. Flash flooding continued, however, as runoff maintained flash flooding conditions over U.S. Highway 82 near Lovington.Bands of showers and thunderstorms redeveloped by midnight MST over southern and central Lea County. This activity aggravated the flash flooding near Lovington along U.S. Highway 82 and caused additional flash flooding that affected several secondary roadways.Moderate to occasionally heavy rainfall continued over central Lea County through early morning on Monday the 27th. At 12:00 MST local officials reported that U.S. Highway 82 west of Lovington remained closed due to flowing water. Flooding there receded by mid afternoon Monday.
June 2003HailMonument-Widespread severe thunderstorms across West Texas during the afternoon and early evening of the 13th resulted in an outflow boundary which moved across parts of the southeast New Mexico plains. Linear strong to severe thunderstorms developed along the boundary by mid evening. One of the stronger storms in the line resulted in large hail near Monument.
June 1999Flash FloodMonument-Flash flooding occurred on State Highway 8 near Monument. The initial cell that rained on the area formed along the Texas state line and moved to the NNW. Near Monument this cell merged with other cells to produce torrential rains for a short period.
May 1998HailMonument-These two storms formed along the dry line and were both multicell severe storms.
September 1995HailMonument-A thunderstorm that formed in Chaves County moved into west-central Lea County moving to the southeast. This storm had several reports of large hail and damaging winds during its life in Southeast New Mexico and the Permian Basin in Texas. While in Lea County penny-size hail was reported 15 miles west of Lovington and later at Monument. 70 mph winds were reported west of Lovington as well. This storm was a classic supercell for much of its life. The storm continued on southeast track across the stateline heading toward Midland.
May 2018HailMonument-no account filed
May 2010HailMonument-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lea 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
Warren6.3 miles5
Arkansas Junction6.8 miles5
Nadine7.3 miles5
Oil Center8.6 miles7
Hobbs8.7 miles5
Air Base City10.7 miles7
Humble City12.0 miles7
Jones City12.9 miles6

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 MonumentAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6022902The 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 899801. 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.