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.
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
Christopher F. Dixon Jr. Houselisted 1977
John Dixon Houselisted 1978
Samuel Douglass Houselisted 1992
Payson Historic Districtlisted 2007
Payson Presbyterian Churchlisted 1986
Peteetneet Schoollisted 1990
Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record
- Strawberry Valley Project, Paysonfederal building survey, 78 photographs
Population over time
2 figuresPayson 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 18,294 | |
| 2020 | 21,101 | +2,807 (+15%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 21 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.
- 1885 USGS Salt Lake quadrangle1:250000, 7 printings
- 1948 USGS Spanish Fork quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1949 USGS Provo quadrangle1:62500
- 1950 USGS Spanish Fork quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Salt Lake City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Salt Lake City quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Salt Lake City quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Provo quadrangle1:100000
- 1994 USGS Spanish Fork quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS Spanish Fork quadrangle1:24000
What the histories say of this town
2,824 words1 chapter about Payson from the published histories of the county, public domain and reproduced complete.
| Chapter | From | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Utah County: a Graphic Account of Its Foundings, Its Wonderful Growth | Utah 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 1992Regional 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/undetermined | 152 |
| Debris and open burning | 58 |
| Natural | 22 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 14 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 14 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 10 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 9 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 8 |
| Fireworks | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | 8660 S. |
| 8 September 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | I-15, MM251 |
| 8 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | HYDRO |
| 7 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | not named |
| 6 September 2012 | Natural | under an acre | Salt Lake Field Office | P MOUNTAIN |
| 6 September 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | SALEM CANAL FIRE |
| 6 September 1994 | Natural | under an acre | Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest | BANDIT |
| 4 September 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | WELDING |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 58 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownstone Adit | Copper, Iron | Occurrence | Chalcopyrite, Pyrite | |
| Bullock Mine | Lead, Zinc, Silver | Past Producer | Galena | |
| Castilla Hot Springs | Geothermal | Unknown | ||
| El Dorado Mine | Silver, Zinc, Lead | Past Producer | Underground | |
| Elsie Jane Drift | Lead, Zinc, Silver | Past Producer | Galena | |
| Golden Relief Claims | Copper, Gold, Silver | Occurrence | Gold | |
| Jewel No 9 | Zinc, Silver, Lead | Occurrence | ||
| Julie Nos 1,2,3,5,8,And 20 | Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Keigley Ne Prospects | Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Surface/Underground | |
| Keigley Quarry | Limestone, General, Dolomite | Producer | 1943 |
Storms near this place
10 since 2001Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2003 | Tornado (F0) | Payson | $2,000 | A 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 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Payson | $1,000 | A large tree was downed/uprooted, including its associated large root ball. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Payson | - | Mesonet station UTBRC I-15 at Beer Creek recorded a wind gust of 60 mph. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Payson | - | 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 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Payson | - | The I-15 at Beer Creek sensor recorded a peak wind gust of 62 mph. |
| August 2016 | Hail | Payson | - | Nickel- to quarter-sized hail was reported in multiple locations across Utah County, including Payson and Salem. |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Payson | - | The Interstate 15 at Beer Creek sensor recorded a maximum wind gust of 58 mph. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Payson | - | Hail with a diameter of 0.75 inches was reported near Payson. |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Payson | - | A severe thunderstorm brought 58mph (50kts) wind gusts to the Payson area. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Payson | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake | 3.1 miles | 21 | |
| Salem | 3.2 miles | 21 | |
| West Mountain | 3.2 miles | 20 | |
| Lewis | 3.2 miles | 21 | |
| Elk Ridge | 3.7 miles | 21 | |
| Benjamin | 3.7 miles | 21 | |
| Leland | 4.4 miles | 21 | |
| Woodland Hills | 4.9 miles | 21 |
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 Payson | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q482941 | 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 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.









