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Terlingua, Texas

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Alpine census division. It lies in ZIP code area 79852. It lies near Fossil Knobs. The Survey maps it on the Terlingua quadrangle. 78 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,507 feet above sea level.

Terlingua within Brewster County

On record in Terlingua

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

Surveyed buildings and structures 5 records

Population over time

2 figures

Terlingua grew from 58 to 78 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
201058
202078+20 (+34%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 16 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

3 photographs, 2014

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.

A carved indian figure near the "ghost town," some of which is still occupied and some of which consists of ruins of the Chisos quicksilver-mining company which operated from 1905 into the early 1940s, and the residences of those who worked there. Terlingua, Texas
A carved indian figure near the "ghost town," some of which is still occupied and some of which consists of ruins of the Chisos quicksilver-mining company which operated from 1905 into the early 1940s, and the residences of those who worked there. Terlingua, Texas
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress
Isolated Terlingua settlement, just north of Big Bend National Park in Texas's "Trans-Pecos" region
Isolated Terlingua settlement, just north of Big Bend National Park in Texas's "Trans-Pecos" region
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress
Funky art mural "Hardware" in the isolated Terlingua settlement, just north of Big Bend National Park in Texas's "Trans-Pecos" region
Funky art mural "Hardware" in the isolated Terlingua settlement, just north of Big Bend National Park in Texas's "Trans-Pecos" region
Highsmith, Carol M, 2014. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

1 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Terlingua in 2008, burning about 15 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
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
23 January 2008Natural15 acresTexas A & M Forest Servicenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Brewster County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 21 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 21 workings within 5 miles of Terlingua: 12 past producers, 9 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Mercury, Fluorine-Fluorite. 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
Unnamed OccurrencesFluorine-FluoriteOccurrence
Unnamed OccurrencesFluorine-FluoriteOccurrence
Brown ProspectsMercuryOccurrenceVein
Chisos MineMercuryPast Producer1897, 1903, 1943
Colquitt Tigner MineMercuryPast Producer1925, 1934
Coltrin's Camp OccurrenceMercuryOccurrence
LafarelleMercuryOccurrenceVein
Le Roi ProspectMercuryOccurrenceVein
Little Thirty-Eight MineMercuryPast Producer1933
Mariposa MineMercuryPast Producer1884, 1895, 1945

Every working recorded in Brewster County

Storms near this place

15 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Terlingua in 15 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 10 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood. 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 1997Thunderstorm WindTerlingua$70,000Wind damage occurred to several buildings on a ranch located on Taurus Mesa. Much of the damage was limited to corrugated metal that was strewn across the countryside. Rear-flank downdraft (RFD) winds were thought to have been the mechanism for the high winds. The RFD then hit State Highway 118 where the Longhorn Ranch Motel sustained wind damage. A 12x20 foot sign was blown down as well as damage to doors and the roof.The Red Cross determined that 2 houses were destroyed and 6 houses sustained major damage in the area near the motel.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindTerlingua$50,000Several structures at Terlingua Ranch sustained roof damage and a few barns were destroyed.
July 2025Flash FloodTerlingua-Park rangers at the Big Bend reported flood water rushing through Long Draw Creek over FM 170. The time of occurrence is estimated by radar. No damage was reported.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindTerlingua-A thunderstorm moved across Brewster County and produced a 64 mph wind gust at Persimmon Gap.
April 2013HailTerlingua-A thunderstorm moved over Brewster County and produced quarter sized hail at Terlingua Ranch Lodge. The hail lasted fifteen minutes.
March 2007HailTerlingua-Several people between Texas Highway 118 and Terlingua Ranch Lodge reported penny size hail.
May 2002HailTerlingua-Hail covered the road into the lodge for 10 miles.
May 2002HailTerlingua-Dime size hail covered the ground up to two inches deep.
August 1998Flash FloodTerlingua-Heavy rains from tropical thunderstorms caused flash flooding on State Highway 170 near Terlingua.
May 2017HailTerlingua-no account filed
May 2012HailTerlingua-no account filed
May 2012HailTerlingua-no account filed
October 2009HailTerlingua-no account filed
June 2008HailTerlingua-no account filed
April 2007HailTerlingua-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Brewster 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
Study Butte4.5 miles16
Lunas8.5 miles15
Terlingua Abaja8.8 miles15
Lajitas9.5 miles17
Tres Papalotes12.6 miles15
Castolon14.1 miles15
Santa Elena Crossing14.6 miles13
Onion Spring15.9 miles11

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 TerlinguaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q982241The 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 1379150. 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.