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Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the Truth or Consequences East census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87901. The Survey maps it on the Cuchillo quadrangle. 6,052 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,245 feet above sea level.

Truth or Consequences within Sierra County

On record in Truth or Consequences

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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Truth or Consequences fell from 6,475 to 6,052 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
20106,475
20206,052-423 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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.

Photographs

8 of 10 photographs shown, 2021

Taken 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.

The small Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Hillsboro, near the town of Truth or Consequences in southern New Mexico
The small Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Hillsboro, near the town of Truth or Consequences in southern New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress
A rock-garden plaza outside the Geronimo Springs Museum and Sierra County Historical Society in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
A rock-garden plaza outside the Geronimo Springs Museum and Sierra County Historical Society in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress
An old cabin and mine car at a rock-garden plaza outside the Geronimo Springs Museum and Sierra County Historical Society in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
An old cabin and mine car at a rock-garden plaza outside the Geronimo Springs Museum and Sierra County Historical Society in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress
View from a private bath at the Riverbend Hot Springs spa in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
View from a private bath at the Riverbend Hot Springs spa in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress
A striking eagle sculpture at Veterans Memorial Park in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
A striking eagle sculpture at Veterans Memorial Park in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress
A metal-art horse pulls a vintage freight wagon outside the Geronimo Springs Museum and Sierra County Historical Society in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
A metal-art horse pulls a vintage freight wagon outside the Geronimo Springs Museum and Sierra County Historical Society in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress
An old motel sign, mostly obliterated like some of the closed establishments, in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
An old motel sign, mostly obliterated like some of the closed establishments, in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress
A vintage, but rusted and busted-up, military ambulance at Veterans Memorial Park in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
A vintage, but rusted and busted-up, military ambulance at Veterans Memorial Park in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Highsmith, Carol M, 2021. Library of Congress

Every photograph of Sierra County

Fires near this place

20 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 20 fires within 5 miles of Truth or Consequences between 1993 and 2017, burning about 135 acres in total. 1 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/undetermined15
Equipment and vehicle use2
Recreation and ceremony1
Debris and open burning1
Natural1

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
3 August 2012Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMM73 I-25
10 August 1997Missing data/not specified/undetermined50 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMIMS
9 July 2017Naturalunder an acreCibola National ForestSAND TANK
30 June 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionELPHIE
25 June 1993Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.3 acresNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionCOOL
24 June 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionMM97
1 June 2000Debris and open burningunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionWHETZEL
1 June 1996Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNew Mexico State Forestry DivisionFISH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sierra County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 54 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 54 workings within 5 miles of Truth or Consequences: 29 past producers, 12 prospects, 6 unknowns, 5 producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Manganese, Fluorine-Fluorite, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Barium-Barite. 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
AshlandSeleniumProspect
Black Jack GroupManganese, TungstenPast Producer1939, 1942, 1958
Blue Jacket ProspectFluorine-Fluorite, Barium-Barite, SilicaPast Producer
Dredge Tailings 3GoldUnknown
Equator and Iron Reef GroupCopper, SilverPast Producer
Forty-One ClaimFluorine-Fluorite, ManganesePast Producer1952
Illinois GroupFluorine-Fluorite, Lead, Barium-BariteProducer1918, 1953
Oakland VeinBarium-Barite, Calcium, Fluorine-FluoritePast Producer1924, 1926
Tingley ProspectFluorine-Fluorite, CopperOccurrenceFluorite
Tingley ProspectCalcium, Copper, Fluorine-FluoriteProspect

Every working recorded in Sierra County

Storms near this place

7 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Truth or Consequences in 7 storm reports between 2000 and 2006: 3 flash flood, 3 hail, 1 heavy rain. 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 2006Flash FloodTruth Or Consequences$80,000Major street flooding was reported in Truth or Consequences, with the downtown area and points east hardest hit. Water entered businesses and the high school causing damage.
September 2004HailTruth Or Consequences$10,000Hail accumulated to 4 inches on Interstate 25 south of Truth or Consequences, leading to multiple vehicle accidents. The largest hail reported by NMDOT was golf ball size.
June 2000Flash FloodTruth Or Consequences$10,000no account filed
July 2006Flash FloodTruth Or Consequences$5,000A thunderstorm brought about 3 inches of rain, most of it falling within an hour, which resulted in major street flooding and some road wash outs. Highway 51 east of town had to be closed.
August 2004Heavy RainTruth Or Consequences-Two inches of rain fell within 70 minutes (one inch in 20 minutes) and caused street flooding throughout Truth or Consequences. Not far to the south, runoff from heavy rain led to a brief closure of NM 152 between Caballo and Hillsboro.
June 2006HailTruth Or Consequences-no account filed
June 2000HailTruth Or Consequences-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sierra 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
Williamsburg2.3 miles11
Elephant Butte3.9 miles14
Elephant Butte Estates4.7 miles14
Las Palomas5.1 miles11
Hot Springs Landing5.9 miles14
Rock Canyon7.0 miles14
Cuchillo9.4 miles9
Caballo10.9 miles9

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 Truth or ConsequencesAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q431932The 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 897496. 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.