Nespelem, Washington
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Colville Reservation census division. It lies in ZIP code area 99155. It lies near Kroll Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Nespelem quadrangle. 180 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,841 feet above sea level.
On record in Nespelem
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
- Chief Joseph Memoriallisted 1974
Population over time
2 figuresNespelem fell from 236 to 180 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 | 236 | |
| 2020 | 180 | -56 (-24%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 10 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.
- 1950 USGS Nespelem quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Okanogan quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Okanogan quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Nespelem quadrangle1:100000
- 1989 USGS Nespelem quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
280 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 280 fires within 5 miles of Nespelem between 1992 and 2020, burning about 9,020 acres in total. 39 started naturally. 19 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 61 |
| Fireworks | 59 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 |
| Natural | 39 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 23 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 19 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 10 |
| Smoking | 3 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1998 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Colville Agency | CATHOLIC L |
| 7 September 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Colville Agency | B STREET |
| 7 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Colville Agency | HUDNUT |
| 7 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colville Agency | NESP CK |
| 6 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Colville Agency | HUDNUT CANYON |
| 30 September 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colville Agency | GREAT WEST |
| 3 September 2009 | Natural | under an acre | Colville Agency | OWHI BLOCK 84 |
| 3 September 1992 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Colville Agency | NESP DUMP |
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 95 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 95 workings within 5 miles of Nespelem: 37 occurrences, 36 unknowns, 12 prospects, 7 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Silver, Lead, Gold, Copper. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchor | Silver, Gold, Zinc, Lead | Unknown | ||
| Andy O Neil | Silver, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Andy O'Neil | Silver, Lead, Zinc, Copper | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Anna Claim | Silver, Lead, Copper, Zinc | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Apache | Silver, Gold, Lead, Manganese, Zinc, Copper | Past Producer | Argentite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Silver, Sphalerite, Stephanite, Tetrahedrite | |
| Apache Claim | Fluorine-Fluorite, Silver, Lead, Gold | Unknown | ||
| Cabin | Lead, Zinc, Silver, Gold | Unknown | ||
| Cabin Shaft | Silver, Gold, Lead, Zinc | Prospect | Galena, Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| Evening | Silver, Copper, Zinc, Lead | Occurrence | ||
| Evening Prospect | Silver, Lead, Copper, Zinc, Gold | Occurrence | Contact Metamorphic |
Storms near this place
5 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Nespelem in 5 storm reports between 1997 and 2017: 2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1997 | Tornado (F1) | Nespelem | $10,000 | NWS Storm survey confirmed tornado in Nespelem area. Path of tornado was not continuous |
| July 1997 | Tornado (F1) | Nespelem | $10,000 | NWS Storm survey confirmed second tornoado in Nespelem area. Path was not continuous |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nespelem | $8,000 | The Post Office building sustained roof damage. Rain entered the office lobby and resulted in minor water damage. Dime size hail was also reported with the storm. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nespelem | $500 | Nespelem School reported a downed tree roughly 10 to 12 inches in diameter. The tree fell on and damaged a dumpster. |
| May 2017 | Hail | Nespelem | - | A thunderstorm briefly produced 1 inch diameter hail in the town of Nespelem. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belvedere | 8.1 miles | 10 | |
| Seatons Grove | 10.0 miles | 10 | |
| Koontzville | 10.5 miles | 10 | |
| Elmer City | 11.7 miles | 16 | |
| Lone Pine | 12.8 miles | 16 | |
| Mason City | 13.8 miles | 16 | |
| Coulee Dam | 13.9 miles | 16 | |
| Mason City (historical) | 14.9 miles | 16 |
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 Nespelem | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1507172 | 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 1512500. 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.




