BlockBefore

Alum Rock, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the San Jose census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95127. It stands on Babb Creek. The Survey maps it on the San Jose East quadrangle. It stands 151 feet above sea level.

Alum Rock within Santa Clara County

Then and now

1889 to 1978

The same ground, surveyed 89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Alum Rock, surveyed 1978
Topographic sheet of Alum Rock, surveyed 1889

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 27 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

79 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 79 fires within 5 miles of Alum Rock between 1992 and 2020, burning about 671 acres in total. None started naturally. 5 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/undetermined44
Equipment and vehicle use21
Arson/incendiarism5
Debris and open burning4
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Smoking1
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/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
5 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.5 acresSanta Clara UnitROCK
3 September 2005Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSanta Clara UnitSIERRA
23 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionQUIMBY
23 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara UnitFELTER
21 September 2000Arson/incendiarism6.0 acresSanta Clara UnitSOTO
18 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSanta Clara UnitALUM
16 September 1997Equipment and vehicle use6.0 acresSanta Clara UnitSWEIGERT

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Clara County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 24 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 24 workings within 5 miles of Alum Rock: 14 past producers, 5 producers, 3 prospects, 1 unknown. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Manganese, Clay, Stone, 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
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Borrow PitStoneProducer
Borrow PitStonePast Producer
QuarryStoneProspect
Roggasch Bros. QuarryStoneUnknown
Garden City Pottery Co.ClayPast ProducerSedimentary
Garden City Pottery Co.ClayPast Producer
Gladding Bros. Mfg. Co.ClayPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Santa Clara County

Storms near this place

2 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alum Rock in 2 storm reports between 2017 and 2021: 1 debris flow, 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 2021FloodAlum Rock-Roadway flooding due to heavy rain at the southbound 280 offramp to Alum Rock offramp.
February 2017Debris FlowAlum Rock-Debris blocking portion of Clayton Rd nr Casa Maderia Ln.

Every storm recorded in Santa Clara 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
East Foothills1.2 miles32
Berryessa2.3 miles32
Heinlenville (historical)3.7 miles28
Chinatown (historical)4.0 miles28
Wayne4.0 miles29
San Jose4.0 miles28
College Park4.2 miles28
Evergreen4.5 miles27

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.

Wikidata item Q120837241The 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 218196. 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.