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.
Then and now
1889 to 1978The 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 sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 27 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.
- 1889 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1897 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:62500
- 1899 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1943 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS San Jose East quadrangle1:24000
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS San Jose East quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
79 since 1992Regional 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/undetermined | 44 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 21 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 5 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.5 acres | Santa Clara Unit | ROCK |
| 3 September 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | SIERRA |
| 23 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | QUIMBY |
| 23 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | FELTER |
| 21 September 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | SOTO |
| 18 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | ALUM |
| 16 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | SWEIGERT |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 24 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Quarry | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Borrow Pit | Stone | Producer | ||
| Borrow Pit | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Prospect | ||
| Roggasch Bros. Quarry | Stone | Unknown | ||
| Garden City Pottery Co. | Clay | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Garden City Pottery Co. | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Gladding Bros. Mfg. Co. | Clay | Past Producer | Sedimentary |
Storms near this place
2 since 2017Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2021 | Flood | Alum Rock | - | Roadway flooding due to heavy rain at the southbound 280 offramp to Alum Rock offramp. |
| February 2017 | Debris Flow | Alum Rock | - | Debris blocking portion of Clayton Rd nr Casa Maderia Ln. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Foothills | 1.2 miles | 32 | |
| Berryessa | 2.3 miles | 32 | |
| Heinlenville (historical) | 3.7 miles | 28 | |
| Chinatown (historical) | 4.0 miles | 28 | |
| Wayne | 4.0 miles | 29 | |
| San Jose | 4.0 miles | 28 | |
| College Park | 4.2 miles | 28 | |
| Evergreen | 4.5 miles | 27 |
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 Q120837241 | 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 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.












