BlockBefore

Altadena, California

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Pasadena census division. It lies in ZIP code area 91001. It lies near Las Flores Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Pasadena quadrangle. 42,846 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,358 feet above sea level.

Altadena within Los Angeles County

Then and now

1894 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 101 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Altadena, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Altadena, surveyed 1894

Compare 1894 against another survey:

On record in Altadena

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 12 records

Population over time

2 figures

Altadena grew from 42,777 to 42,846 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
201042,777
202042,846+69 (+0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

16 surveys from 46 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

218 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 218 fires within 5 miles of Altadena between 1992 and 2020, burning about 166,466 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 29 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/undetermined73
Equipment and vehicle use44
Arson/incendiarism29
Recreation and ceremony22
Smoking11
Power generation/transmission/distribution10
Debris and open burning10
Natural8
Fireworks7
Misuse of fire by a minor4

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 2008Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAngeles National ForestCHANEY
7 September 2004Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAngeles National ForestSTRATUS
5 September 2004Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAngeles National ForestSUNSHINE
4 September 2002Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreAngeles National ForestELLIOT
30 September 1995Arson/incendiarism7.0 acresAngeles National ForestCHANEY
3 September 2001Debris and open burningunder an acreAngeles National ForestTWIN
3 September 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAngeles National ForestBAYTREE
22 September 2019Arson/incendiarism10 acresAngeles National ForestLOWE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Los Angeles County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Altadena: 4 past producers, 3 producers, 1 occurrence. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold. 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
DawnGoldPast Producer
LorisGoldOccurrence
Devil S GateSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Devils Canyon DamSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
La Canada PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Osborn CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Osborn Co.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Pasadena Aggregates PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Los Angeles County

Storms near this place

3 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Altadena in 3 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 2 flash flood, 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
February 2025Flash FloodAltadena-Heavy rain produced significant flash flooding and debris flows at the intersection of Lake Avenue and East Altadena Drive. Mud and debris flows resulted in the closure of all three northbound lanes.
October 2004Flash FloodAltadena-no account filed
March 2000FloodAltadena-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Los Angeles 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
Kinneloa Mesa2.7 miles47
Linda Vista2.7 miles46
Pasadena3.0 miles46
La Cañada Flintridge3.1 miles46
Lamanda Park3.5 miles47
East Pasadena3.6 miles47
Chapman3.8 miles47
Mount Wilson4.3 miles48

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 AltadenaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q433701The 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 1652662. 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.