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Orogrande, New Mexico

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Alamogordo census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88342. The Survey maps it on the Orogrande South quadrangle. 35 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,190 feet above sea level.

Orogrande within Otero County

On record in Orogrande

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

Population over time

2 figures

Orogrande fell from 52 to 35 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
201052
202035-17 (-33%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 10 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

2 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Orogrande in 2009, burning about 7,150 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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
Arson/incendiarism2

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 May 2009Arson/incendiarism2,150 acresLas Cruces Field OfficeLIL OROGRANDE
22 April 2009Arson/incendiarism5,000 acresLas Cruces Field OfficeOROGRANDE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Otero County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 86 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 86 workings within 5 miles of Orogrande: 28 occurrences, 24 unknowns, 16 past producers, 15 producers. 15 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Copper, Copper, Gold, Silver, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Alabama GroupSemiprecious Gemstone, IronProducer
Alice MineIron, CopperUnknown
Garnet MineGold, Silver, CopperPast Producer1887, 1953
I MineGold, IronPast Producer
Jarilla MountainsGemstonePast Producer1892
Laura MineIron, Copper, Semiprecious GemstoneUnknown
Lucky MinesIron, Copper, GoldPast Producer
Mid-Day Zinc DepositZinc, Copper, LeadOccurrenceReplacement
Nannie Baird GroupIron, Gold, CopperPast Producer
Nannie Baird MineCopper, Gold, Silver, LeadPast Producer1895, 1897, 1932

Every working recorded in Otero County

Storms near this place

14 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Orogrande in 14 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado. 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
October 2010HailOrogrande$5,000Border Patrol reported ping pong ball sized hail at the checkpoint on Highway US54. Hail covered the ground and impeded traffic for some time.
July 2003HailOrogrande$1,000no account filed
June 2025Flash FloodOrogrande-The Orogrande Gate on the White Sands Missile Range received 4.62 of rain and caused some portions of the road from Highway 54 to get flooded.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindOrogrande-A peak gust of 58 mph was reported at a Mesonet site on the White Sands Missile Range.
October 2023Thunderstorm WindOrogrande-A peak gust of 60 mph was recorded about 10 miles east-northeast of the Main Post.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindOrogrande-Reported by LC-32 Mesonet site on the White Sands Missile Range.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindOrogrande-Mesonet station LC-35 North on White Sands Missile Range.
July 2014Flash FloodOrogrande-Otero County Sheriff reported 2 feet of water flowing over some roads in Orogrande. The Orogrande Cooperative Observer reported 2.96 inches of rain and the SAMS site 5 miles west-northwest of Orogrande recorded 2.03 inches.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindOrogrande-A SAMS site from the White Sands Missile Range reported a 68 mph wind gust.
October 2010Thunderstorm WindOrogrande-A 58 mph wind gust was reported 10 miles east-northeast of the White Sands Main Post at a SAMS Mesonet site.
October 2006Tornado (F0)Orogrande-A storm chaser photographed a tornado on White Sands Missile Range. This was the 3rd tornado of the fall season in the El Paso NWS Forecast Area.
October 2002HailOrogrande-A severe thunderstorm (with rotating updraft) dropped a swath of 1.25 inch diameter hail up to 3 inches deep just north of Orogrande. The desert in and around this area was flooded.
September 2007HailOrogrande-no account filed
May 1999HailOrogrande-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Otero 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
Benton Well3.9 miles11
Turquoise5.8 miles11
Elwood6.0 miles11
Martin Well12.9 miles11
Alvarado18.1 miles11
Dunes20.7 miles9
Valmont26.4 miles9
Point of Sands26.6 miles10

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 OrograndeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7103745The 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 920658. 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.