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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.

Tonopah within Nye County

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

Every listing in Nye County

Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Tonopah 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.

YearPeople Change
20102,478
20202,179-299 (-12%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 18 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 9 photographs shown, 1940 to 2022

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.

Entrance to the historic, renovated Belvada Hotel in Tonopah, an old town in southwest Nevada that was once a boomtown known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps"
Entrance to the historic, renovated Belvada Hotel in Tonopah, an old town in southwest Nevada that was once a boomtown known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps"
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
The colorful Clown Motel and clown museum in Tonopah, an old town in southwest Nevada that was once a boomtown known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps"
The colorful Clown Motel and clown museum in Tonopah, an old town in southwest Nevada that was once a boomtown known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps"
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
Abandoned mine and mill. Tonopah, Nevada
Abandoned mine and mill. Tonopah, Nevada
Rothstein, Arthur, 1940. Library of Congress
A metal-art statue honoring "Big Bill" Murphy outside the U.S. post office in Tonopah, an old town in southwest Nevada that was once a boomtown known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps"
A metal-art statue honoring "Big Bill" Murphy outside the U.S. post office in Tonopah, an old town in southwest Nevada that was once a boomtown known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps"
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
Cemetery. Tonopah, Nevada
Cemetery. Tonopah, Nevada
Rothstein, Arthur, 1940. Library of Congress
A postcard-style welcome sign in Tonopah, an old town in southwest Nevada that was once a boomtown known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps"
A postcard-style welcome sign in Tonopah, an old town in southwest Nevada that was once a boomtown known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps"
Highsmith, Carol M, 2022. Library of Congress
Main street. Tonopah, Nevada
Main street. Tonopah, Nevada
Rothstein, Arthur, 1940. Library of Congress
Mizpah Mine, Tonopah, Nye County, NV
Mizpah Mine, Tonopah, Nye County, NV
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Every photograph of Nye County

Fires near this place

1 since 2007

Regional 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/undetermined1

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
29 May 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBattle Mountain District OfficeTONOPAH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Nye County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 104 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Amalgamated PlacersTin, Gold, TungstenUnknown
B.C.H. Minerals Co. PropertyGold, Silver, PlatinumOccurrenceGold
Brougher Divide MineMercury, Gold, Copper, Silver, MolybdenumPast Producer
ConnollyStone, DimensionUnknown
Desert Queen ShaftTungsten, Silver, Lead, GoldPast Producer
Divide Extension Shaft & LodeSilver, Molybdenum, Mercury, Manganese, Gold, Barium-BariteUnknown
Esmeralda 04-4Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
G & H ClaimsSilver, Zinc, Lead, Arsenic, Molybdenum, GoldUnknown
Garibaldi ClaimsUranium, MolybdenumOccurrenceUnknown
JewessSilver, Zinc, Molybdenum, Lead, Gold, Arsenic, Barium-BariteUnknown

Every working recorded in Nye County

Storms near this place

9 since 2006

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2006LightningTonopah1 killed, 1 hurtA 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 2017Flash FloodTonopah$5,000Flash flooding occurred in the town of Tonopah damaging some road shoulders. Damages are estimated.
July 2014Flash FloodTonopah$3,000Heavy 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 2018Flash FloodTonopah$1,500Water to 18 deep was reported flowing across U.S. 95 southeast of of Tonopah. Minor road damage occurred.
July 2018Flash FloodTonopah$1,500Public reports via social media videos and pictures of street flooding in Tonopah.
August 2015Flash FloodTonopah$1,000Multiple reports were received of flooding on Route 89 near the Crescent Dunes solar energy plant. Damages are estimated.
August 2014Flash FloodTonopah$1,000Six 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 2014Flash FloodTonopah$1,000Heavy rain from thunderstorms sent water and debris across State Highway 376 from mile post 8 to 14. Damages estimated.
July 2021FloodTonopah-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.

Every storm recorded in Nye 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
Valley View0.3 miles18
Tonogold (historical)4.9 miles15
Frazier Wells (historical)6.4 miles15
Maggie Blues (historical)14.8 miles15
Liberty (historical)16.9 miles15
Hannapah (historical)17.1 miles9
Volcano (historical)17.4 miles9
Potomic (historical)18.2 miles14

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 TonopahAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q988827The 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.