BlockBefore

Gerlach, Nevada

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the High Desert census division. It lies in ZIP code area 89412. The Survey maps it on the Gerlach quadrangle. 130 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,944 feet above sea level.

Gerlach within Washoe County

On record in Gerlach

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

Gerlach fell from 206 to 130 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
2020130-76 (-37%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 20 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

6 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Gerlach between 1996 and 2017, burning about 4 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
Equipment and vehicle use2
Natural1
Recreation and ceremony1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Debris and open burning1

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 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreWinnemucca District OfficeEMPIRE
7 September 2010Equipment and vehicle use3.3 acresWinnemucca District OfficeRV
30 September 2011Naturalunder an acreWinnemucca District OfficeEMPIRE RANCH
7 August 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWinnemucca District OfficeRANGER
1 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWinnemucca District OfficeGERLACH
10 November 1996Debris and open burningunder an acreWinnemucca District OfficeBLACKROCK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Washoe County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Gerlach: 3 occurrences, 2 producers, 1 plant, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Boron-Borates, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Uranium. 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
Empire MillGypsum-AnhydritePlant
Great Boiling SpringsGeothermalProducer
Great Boiling Springs Uranium OccurrenceUraniumOccurrence
Gerlach Area Borate DepositBoron-BoratesOccurrence
Gerlach Hot SpringsBoron-BoratesOccurrenceUlexite
Gerlach Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Lower E. Panther PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Washoe County

Storms near this place

9 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gerlach in 9 storm reports between 2002 and 2024: 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 heavy rain, 2 flash flood, 1 hail. 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
June 2013Flash FloodGerlach$10,000Slow-moving thunderstorms with heavy rainfall caused flash flooding over highway 447 about 5 miles northwest of Gerlach. The road was closed due to the flooding.
October 2024Heavy RainGerlach-A mesonet station (FW0371-Gerlach) located in Gerlach, NV, reported 24 hour rainfall totaling 0.57 inches.
August 2022Heavy RainGerlach-Mesonet stations Fox Mountain (FOXN2) located 27 mi NNW of Gerlach, NV, and Juniper Springs (JSPN2) located 36 mi S of Vya, NV, both reported rainfall totals of 0.59 inches and 0.83 inches respectively.
April 2018Heavy RainGerlach-Mesonet station F0371, near Gerlach (elevation 3953 feet) reported 0.58 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period from 6 April 1014PST to 7 April 1014PST.
August 2017Flash FloodGerlach-A nearly stationary thunderstorm produced over 2 inches of rain and caused a debris flow across Nevada Highway 447 south of Gerlach, Nevada. Nevada Department of Transportation reported mud and debris in the roadway blocking all lanes in both directions. No damage estimates were available.
August 2014HailGerlach-Dime to nickel-sized hail was reported in Gerlach.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindGerlach-A wind gust of 50 knots (58 mph) was reported in Gerlach.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindGerlach-78 mph wind gust
July 2002Thunderstorm WindGerlach-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washoe 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
Empire5.3 miles20
Phil6.1 miles20
Deep Hole8.2 miles20
Hot Springs (historical)14.5 miles18
Reynard18.2 miles18
Buffalo Meadows (historical)20.7 miles18
Smoke Creek21.7 miles19
Sano27.6 miles19

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 GerlachAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5550916The 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 845471. 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.