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Smeltertown, Texas

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1917 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the El Paso census division. It lies in ZIP code area 79922. The Survey maps it on the Smeltertown quadrangle.

Smeltertown within El Paso County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 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.

Fires near this place

1 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Smeltertown in 2000, 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
Smoking1

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
13 January 2000Smokingunder an acreChamizal National MonumentBERMUDA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in El Paso County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Smeltertown: 10 producers, 2 plants. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Copper, Sulfur, Sulfuric Acid. 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
(Facility) El Paso Copper SmelterCopper, Sulfur, Sulfuric AcidPlant
(Facility) El Paso Lead SmelterLead, Smelter, Cadmium, Sulfur, Sulfuric Acid, ZincPlant
Eagle Mine and MillClay, Limestone, GeneralProducer
El Paso Quarry & PlantSilicaProducer
El Paso Sulfur PlantSulfurProducer
International Hortense Mill MineClayProducerSedimentary
Edgar Park PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducerGravel, Sand
Vowell Construction Company PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Courchesne QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
McKelligon Canyon QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in El Paso County

Storms near this place

19 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Smeltertown in 19 storm reports between 2010 and 2025: 9 hail, 8 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind. 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 2019HailSmeltertown$25,000Spotter reported dents to cars, windshields and house windows around the area of Buckley and North Stanton Streets.
August 2019HailSmeltertown$25,000Golf ball sized hail broke windshield around the UTEP area.
July 2021Flash FloodSmeltertown$10,000Gateway South near Fred Wilson became impassable with a car stranded in the flood waters. Ellerthorpe and US 54 was also closed due to flooding. The heavy rain created a rock slide that caused McKelligon Canyon Road to be blocked with 100 people stranded at an outdoor concert in the area. A video of a home with several inches of water causing damage inside was also obtained via social media in the same general area.
August 2025Flash FloodSmeltertown-Flash flooding was reported by the Emergency Manager which shut down Interstate 10, Executive and Paisano as well as water rescues being needed at Mesa and Mesita. A nearby Mesonet site recorded 1.8 inches in one hour.
July 2025Flash FloodSmeltertown-Roads were closed around downtown El Paso near Wyoming and Kansas over to Interstate 10 near Piedras. Roads were impassable at some places. Flash flooding also caused several walls to collapse further north near US 54 and Fort Blvd. An apartment building in the area southwest of Fort Bliss also received flooding inside.
August 2024Flash FloodSmeltertown-Flash flooding was reported by TXDOT along Interstate 10 West near Cotton. Gateway West was also impassable and both roads were closed.
September 2023Flash FloodSmeltertown-Extensive water in flood prone areas from near Executive and Paisano Drive to Porfirio Diaz into downtown El Paso. Several stalled vehicles and water running across highways.
August 2022Flash FloodSmeltertown-A public report was received of flash flooding at Mesa and Brentwood.
August 2019HailSmeltertown-Golf ball sized hail at Southwest University Park area.
August 2017Flash FloodSmeltertown-Two vehicles were stranded in high water at intersection of Mesa and Sun Bowl Drive. In addition, Interstate 10 eastbound at Porfirio Diaz had 3 of 4 lanes closed down due to flooding.
November 2016HailSmeltertown-Hail covered the ground.
October 2015HailSmeltertown-Penny size hail at Redd Rd and Resler.
April 2014HailSmeltertown-Hail covered ground. Penny sized, but mostly smaller hail.
April 2014HailSmeltertown-Public sent picture of hail covering ground at Executive and Rio Bravo.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindSmeltertown-A spotter on the south side of the Franklin Mountains recorded a peak gust of 67 mph.
September 2010Flash FloodSmeltertown-Rainfall total of 1.32 inches reported at the University of Texas-El Paso Centennial Museum in an hour and a half. Flash flooding was reported on the campus by a university professor.
August 2019HailSmeltertown-no account filed
August 2017Thunderstorm WindSmeltertown-no account filed
October 2015HailSmeltertown-no account filed

Every storm recorded in El Paso 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
La Guna0.5 miles18
Courchesne0.8 miles18
Mission Hills1.7 miles21
Buena Vista1.9 miles18
El Paso2.7 miles21
Coronado Hills3.1 miles18
Montoya5.5 miles18
Planeport5.7 miles21

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1368453. 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.