Thoreau, New Mexico
16 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 87323. The Survey maps it on the Thoreau quadrangle. 2,367 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 7,218 feet above sea level.
On record in Thoreau
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
Roy T. Herman's Garage and Service Stationlisted 1993
Population over time
3 figuresThoreau grew from 1,863 to 2,367 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 | 1,863 | |
| 2010 | 1,865 | +2 (+0%) |
| 2020 | 2,367 | +502 (+27%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 16 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 Thoreau quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1967 USGS Gallup quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Zuni quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Photographs
6 photographs, 1943 to 2020Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Delano, Jack, 1943. Library of Congress
Delano, Jack, 1943. Library of Congress
Delano, Jack, 1943. Library of Congress
Delano, Jack, 1943. Library of Congress
Delano, Jack, 1943. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2020. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
12 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Thoreau between 2000 and 2020, burning about 30 acres in total. 3 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 | 6 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 July 2016 | Natural | under an acre | Bernalillo District | SINGLE TREE |
| 11 July 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.5 acres | Bernalillo District | BLACK OSO |
| 9 June 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Bernalillo District | THOREAU |
| 7 June 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | MT. POWELL |
| 5 June 2000 | Smoking | 1.5 acres | Cibola National Forest | THOREAU |
| 16 June 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Cibola National Forest | MARAPAGE RANCH |
| 6 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.7 acres | Bernalillo District | HWY 612 |
| 26 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.7 acres | Bernalillo District | 20-61500561X |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 11 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Thoreau: 6 unknowns, 5 prospects. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Uranium, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Kimbler Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Sand Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Eagle Uran Deposit | Uranium | Unknown | ||
| Largo Uran Deposit | Uranium | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Uranium | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed | Uranium | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed | Uranium | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed | Uranium | Prospect |
Storms near this place
3 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Thoreau in 3 storm reports between 1997 and 2013: 3 flash 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2012 | Flash Flood | Thoreau | $150,000 | Flooding was reported into Thoreau Baptist Church, Giant Gas Station, Thoreau Chapter House as well as multiple other businesses and 6 homes. Several bridges and roads were also washed over with debris, including state roads 118, 371 and 612 and county roads 61, 27, 51, and Castle Rock. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | Thoreau | - | NM 412 closed between Prewitt and Bluewater Lake. Debris reported over NM 612. |
| September 1997 | Flash Flood | Thoreau | - | Water ran over the Highway 612 bridge on the Rio San Jose above Bluewater Lake. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Chaves | 3.5 miles | 16 | |
| South Chaves | 3.9 miles | 16 | |
| Continental Divide | 5.1 miles | 16 | |
| Gonzales | 5.5 miles | 16 | |
| Bluewater | 6.5 miles | 16 | |
| Coolidge | 8.0 miles | 16 | |
| Homer C Jones | 9.1 miles | 17 | |
| Smith Lake | 9.4 miles | 14 |
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 Thoreau | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2891957 | 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 911673. 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.








