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Payson, Utah

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Spanish Fork-Payson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 84651. It stands on Peteetneet Creek. The Survey maps it on the Spanish Fork quadrangle. 21,101 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,652 feet above sea level.

Payson within Utah County

On record in Payson

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 6 records

Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Payson grew from 18,294 to 21,101 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
201018,294
202021,101+2,807 (+15%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 21 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.

What the histories say of this town

2,824 words

1 chapter about Payson from the published histories of the county, public domain and reproduced complete.

ChapterFrom Length
Utah County: a Graphic Account of Its Foundings, Its Wonderful GrowthUtah County: a Graphic Account of Its Foundings, Its Wonderful Growth and Its Splendid Promise for the Future : Also a Descriptive Review of Its Resources, Attractions, Industries, Leading Business Houses and Institutions, with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Its Pioneers and Early Settlers (1897)2,824 words

Fires near this place

297 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 297 fires within 5 miles of Payson between 1992 and 2020, burning about 13,708 acres in total. 22 started naturally. 8 were 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/undetermined152
Debris and open burning58
Natural22
Equipment and vehicle use14
Firearms and explosives use14
Recreation and ceremony10
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Arson/incendiarism8
Fireworks3
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Smoking2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2

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
9 September 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State Lands8660 S.
8 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsI-15, MM251
8 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsHYDRO
7 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresUtah Division Forestry Fire State Landsnot named
6 September 2012Naturalunder an acreSalt Lake Field OfficeP MOUNTAIN
6 September 2001Arson/incendiarismunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsSALEM CANAL FIRE
6 September 1994Naturalunder an acreUinta-Wasatch-Cache National ForestBANDIT
4 September 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreUtah Division Forestry Fire State LandsWELDING

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Utah County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 58 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 58 workings within 5 miles of Payson: 25 past producers, 17 producers, 13 occurrences, 3 unknowns. 17 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Lead, Dolomite. 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
Brownstone AditCopper, IronOccurrenceChalcopyrite, Pyrite
Bullock MineLead, Zinc, SilverPast ProducerGalena
Castilla Hot SpringsGeothermalUnknown
El Dorado MineSilver, Zinc, LeadPast ProducerUnderground
Elsie Jane DriftLead, Zinc, SilverPast ProducerGalena
Golden Relief ClaimsCopper, Gold, SilverOccurrenceGold
Jewel No 9Zinc, Silver, LeadOccurrence
Julie Nos 1,2,3,5,8,And 20CopperOccurrence
Keigley Ne ProspectsIron, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrenceSurface/Underground
Keigley QuarryLimestone, General, DolomiteProducer1943

Every working recorded in Utah County

Storms near this place

10 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Payson in 10 storm reports between 2001 and 2023: 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado. 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 2003Tornado (F0)Payson$2,000A small tornado (F0) touched down in Payson in Utah County. The tornado damaged about 100 feet of vinyl fence and lifted a small aluminum boat off of its trailer. The path of the tornado was about 100 yards.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindPayson$1,000A large tree was downed/uprooted, including its associated large root ball.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindPayson-Mesonet station UTBRC I-15 at Beer Creek recorded a wind gust of 60 mph.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindPayson-The I-15 at Beer Creek mesonet station recorded an initial strong wind gust of 71 mph at 4:20 pm MST as a result of outflow winds associated with a line of showers and thunderstorms moving through the area. A second peak wind gust of 79 mph was recorded at 4:30 pm MST before winds began to subside.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindPayson-The I-15 at Beer Creek sensor recorded a peak wind gust of 62 mph.
August 2016HailPayson-Nickel- to quarter-sized hail was reported in multiple locations across Utah County, including Payson and Salem.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindPayson-The Interstate 15 at Beer Creek sensor recorded a maximum wind gust of 58 mph.
August 2011HailPayson-Hail with a diameter of 0.75 inches was reported near Payson.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindPayson-A severe thunderstorm brought 58mph (50kts) wind gusts to the Payson area.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindPayson-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Utah 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
Spring Lake3.1 miles21
Salem3.2 miles21
West Mountain3.2 miles20
Lewis3.2 miles21
Elk Ridge3.7 miles21
Benjamin3.7 miles21
Leland4.4 miles21
Woodland Hills4.9 miles21

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 PaysonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q482941The 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 1444252. 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.