BlockBefore

Plaza, Washington

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Rockford census division. It lies in ZIP code area 99170. The Survey maps it on the Plaza quadrangle. It stands 2,346 feet above sea level.

Plaza within Spokane County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 11 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

24 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 24 fires within 5 miles of Plaza between 1992 and 2020, burning about 15,796 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 1 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Natural5
Recreation and ceremony3
Debris and open burning3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Arson/incendiarism1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Fireworks1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
7 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined15,269 acresNortheast Region-Department of Natural ResourcesBABB
4 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.0 acresSpokane County Fire DistrictsSOUTH COE ROAD
9 August 2008Naturalunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersNORTH PINE CREEK
5 August 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined300 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named
4 August 2005Railroad operations and maintenance7.0 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named
3 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWashington State Department of Natural Resources HeadquartersROSALIA
2 August 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined35 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named
19 August 1999Natural3.0 acresWashington State Department of Natural Resources Headquartersnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Spokane County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Plaza: 11 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Dorsey QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Weinandy QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
North Pine PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Peterschick PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Peterschick PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Spring Valley PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Unnamed PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Spokane County

Storms near this place

4 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Plaza in 4 storm reports between 2014 and 2025: 1 debris flow, 1 funnel cloud, 1 hail, 1 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
March 2014Debris FlowPlaza$10,000A rock slide blocked State Route 195 at milepost 68 between Rosalia and Plaza. One vehicle was struck by some of the rocks. Damage costs were estimated.
February 2025FloodPlaza-Vehicle stranded and water over roadway at Old 195 and E Prairie Road reported.
August 2022HailPlaza-A thunderstorm formed near Malden and moved Northeast near Plaza. It produced hail the size of half an inch to 1.5 inch.
May 2017Funnel CloudPlaza-A member of the public photographed a brief funnel cloud near Plaza.

Every storm recorded in Spokane 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
North Pine2.8 miles11
Freedom3.9 miles11
Spring Valley6.1 miles11
Spangle7.4 miles11
Waverly8.4 miles12
West Fairfield9.3 miles12
East Cheney10.2 miles9
Rahm11.0 miles12

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 PlazaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q22083094The 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 1512567. 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.