Tonopah, Nevada
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1987. It stands in the Tonopah census division. It lies in ZIP code area 89049. It lies near Gold Hill. The Survey maps it on the Tonopah quadrangle. 2,179 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,047 feet above sea level.
On record in Tonopah
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 12 of 47 shown
George A. Bartlett Houselisted 1982
Bass Buildinglisted 1982
Belmontlisted 1972
Cada C. Boak Houselisted 1982
Brann Boardinghouselisted 1982
Brokers Exchangelisted 1982
E. E. Burdick Houselisted 1982
Jim Butler Mining Company Stone Row Houseslisted 1982
Combellack Adobe Row Houselisted 1982
Uri B. Curtis Houselisted 1982
Uri B. Curtis House/Tasker L. Oddie Houselisted 1982
Frank Golden Blocklisted 1982
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- Mizpah Mine, Tonopahfederal building survey, 26 photographs
Population over time
2 figuresTonopah fell from 2,478 to 2,179 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2,478 | |
| 2020 | 2,179 | -299 (-12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 18 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.
- 1907 USGS Tonopah quadrangle1:250000
- 1908 USGS Tonopah quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Tonopah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Tonopah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Tonopah quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1961 USGS Tonopah quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Tonopah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1987 USGS Tonopah quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Photographs
8 of 9 photographs shown, 1940 to 2022Taken 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.
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
Rothstein, Arthur, 1940. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
Rothstein, Arthur, 1940. Library of Congress
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
Rothstein, Arthur, 1940. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Every photograph of Nye County
Fires near this place
1 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Tonopah in 2007, burning under an acre 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/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 May 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Battle Mountain District Office | TONOPAH |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 104 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 104 workings within 5 miles of Tonopah: 50 past producers, 30 occurrences, 14 unknowns, 7 producers. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Silver, Gold, Uranium, Gold, Silver. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amalgamated Placers | Tin, Gold, Tungsten | Unknown | ||
| B.C.H. Minerals Co. Property | Gold, Silver, Platinum | Occurrence | Gold | |
| Brougher Divide Mine | Mercury, Gold, Copper, Silver, Molybdenum | Past Producer | ||
| Connolly | Stone, Dimension | Unknown | ||
| Desert Queen Shaft | Tungsten, Silver, Lead, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Divide Extension Shaft & Lode | Silver, Molybdenum, Mercury, Manganese, Gold, Barium-Barite | Unknown | ||
| Esmeralda 04-4 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| G & H Claims | Silver, Zinc, Lead, Arsenic, Molybdenum, Gold | Unknown | ||
| Garibaldi Claims | Uranium, Molybdenum | Occurrence | Unknown | |
| Jewess | Silver, Zinc, Molybdenum, Lead, Gold, Arsenic, Barium-Barite | Unknown |
Storms near this place
9 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tonopah in 9 storm reports between 2006 and 2021: 7 flash flood, 1 lightning, 1 flood. The reports record 1 death and 1 injury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2006 | Lightning | Tonopah | 1 killed, 1 hurt | A 16 year old boy was struck and killed by lightning when he and his dad got out of their pickup truck to check the tires. His father was thrown to the ground when the lightning struck. The father was taken to the hospital for treatment and released. The boy's mother and sister stayed in the truck and were unharmed. |
| August 2017 | Flash Flood | Tonopah | $5,000 | Flash flooding occurred in the town of Tonopah damaging some road shoulders. Damages are estimated. |
| July 2014 | Flash Flood | Tonopah | $3,000 | Heavy rain from a thunderstorm caused flash flooding in the town of Tonopah. Water 1 to 1.5 feet deep flowed down main street. Water seeped into one business in downtown. Some asphalt was lifted at a Shell gas station. Damages are estimated. |
| July 2018 | Flash Flood | Tonopah | $1,500 | Water to 18 deep was reported flowing across U.S. 95 southeast of of Tonopah. Minor road damage occurred. |
| July 2018 | Flash Flood | Tonopah | $1,500 | Public reports via social media videos and pictures of street flooding in Tonopah. |
| August 2015 | Flash Flood | Tonopah | $1,000 | Multiple reports were received of flooding on Route 89 near the Crescent Dunes solar energy plant. Damages are estimated. |
| August 2014 | Flash Flood | Tonopah | $1,000 | Six inches of water were reported flowing down the shoulders and side roads in Tonopah. Estimated three feet of flowing water in dry washes. Damages estimated. |
| September 2014 | Flash Flood | Tonopah | $1,000 | Heavy rain from thunderstorms sent water and debris across State Highway 376 from mile post 8 to 14. Damages estimated. |
| July 2021 | Flood | Tonopah | - | Law enforcement reported minor flooding at the corner of Main street and Cutting. An estimated 2-3 inches was flowing over the roadway per social media photo. Deputy estimated the flooding lasted 30 minutes, and no damage was reported. A nearby station (CMP23) recorded 0.79 inches of rain that fell in 40 minutes to 1 hours time. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley View | 0.3 miles | 18 | |
| Tonogold (historical) | 4.9 miles | 15 | |
| Frazier Wells (historical) | 6.4 miles | 15 | |
| Maggie Blues (historical) | 14.8 miles | 15 | |
| Liberty (historical) | 16.9 miles | 15 | |
| Hannapah (historical) | 17.1 miles | 9 | |
| Volcano (historical) | 17.4 miles | 9 | |
| Potomic (historical) | 18.2 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 Tonopah | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q988827 | 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 845985. 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.







