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Bessemer Bend, Wyoming

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Hells Half Acre census division. It lies in ZIP code area 82604. It lies near Red Buttes. The Survey maps it on the Emigrant Gap quadrangle. 202 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,236 feet above sea level.

Bessemer Bend within Natrona County

On record in Bessemer Bend

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

Population over time

2 figures

Bessemer Bend grew from 199 to 202 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
2010199
2020202+3 (+2%)

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

84 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 84 fires within 5 miles of Bessemer Bend between 1992 and 2020, burning about 19,316 acres in total. 29 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined47
Natural29
Debris and open burning3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Firearms and explosives use1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
8 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWyoming State Forestrynot named
7 September 1998Naturalunder an acreCasper Field OfficeWEST END
25 September 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNatrona CountyHWY 220 FIRE
24 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCasper Field OfficeCOAL MOUNTAIN ROAD
24 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCasper Field OfficeCOTTONWOOD CREEK
2 September 2013Naturalunder an acreCasper Field OfficeSHOOTING RANGE
14 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCasper Field OfficeCOLE MOUNTAIN
10 September 1999Naturalunder an acreCasper Field OfficeWEST END

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Natrona County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Bessemer Bend: 6 prospects, 6 occurrences, 2 unknowns, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Bentonite, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Uranium, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Cedar Breaks #1UraniumOccurrence
Lower PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Goose Egg #2Gypsum-AnhydriteProspect
Red ButtesGypsum-AnhydriteUnknown
Bates Creek Area No 2BentoniteProspect
Blue Hill DepositBentoniteProspect
Cottonwood CreekBentoniteOccurrence
Goose Egg #1BentoniteOccurrence
Soap Creek #1BentoniteProducer
Southwest of CasperBentoniteOccurrence

Every working recorded in Natrona County

Storms near this place

4 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bessemer Bend in 4 storm reports between 2009 and 2023: 3 hail, 1 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 2023Flash FloodBessemer Bend$2,866,000Rainfall reports for the 24 hour period including the flash flood event ranged from 1.30 to 3.47 inches. Flooding was initially reported in downtown Casper where cars where were reported as floating in flowing water. On the south side of Casper, a house was reported as shifted off of its foundation. Interstate 25 became flooded at the peak of the event, and was closed for until well after rainfall ended. Low-lying tunnels on the south side of Casper had as much as 5 feet of water in them at the height of the storm. Damage values have been updated as of Oct 2023 and are from the FEMA presidential disaster declaration, FEMA-4739-DR-WY. No injuries or fatalities were reported to the NWS.
July 2019HailBessemer Bend-A storm moved into Natrona County and rapidly strengthened as it moved toward Highway 220 southwest of Casper. The thunderstorm peaked in intensity along Highway 220. A motorist reported golf ball size hail when driving through the storm.
June 2015HailBessemer Bend-The Natrona County emergency manager reported hail up to the size of ping pong balls near the intersection of state highways 220 and 487.
August 2009HailBessemer Bend-Hail of dime to nickel size fell near Bessemer Bend. Associated thunderstorm wind gusts topped out at 38 mph.

Every storm recorded in Natrona 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
Bessemer (historical)1.3 miles11
Goose Egg1.8 miles11
Red Butte5.6 miles11
Red Buttes Village6.3 miles11
Paradise Valley7.7 miles11
Vista West8.8 miles11
Eadsville (historical)9.0 miles8
Air Base Acres9.5 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 Bessemer BendAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1863144The 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 1853197. 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.