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Arcata, California

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1922 and the latest in 1987. It stands in the Arcata census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95521. It stands on Jolly Giant Creek. The Survey maps it on the Arcata South quadrangle. 18,857 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 23 feet above sea level.

Arcata within Humboldt County

Then and now

1922 to 1987

The same ground, surveyed 65 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Arcata, surveyed 1987
Topographic sheet of Arcata, surveyed 1922

On record in Arcata

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 9 records

Population over time

2 figures

Arcata grew from 17,231 to 18,857 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
201017,231
202018,857+1,626 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 21 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

251 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 251 fires within 5 miles of Arcata between 1992 and 2020, burning about 367 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 15 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/undetermined129
Debris and open burning45
Equipment and vehicle use25
Arson/incendiarism15
Recreation and ceremony11
Smoking10
Misuse of fire by a minor6
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Natural2
Other causes2

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 2006Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2004Smokingunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitESSEX
6 September 2020Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitUNION ST / SAMOA BLVD
6 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte Unitnot named
6 September 2010Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitFUSI
4 September 2018Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNorthern California DistrictYOUNG
4 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.6 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Humboldt County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 28 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 28 workings within 5 miles of Arcata: 17 producers, 5 occurrences, 4 prospects, 2 past producers. 17 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Manganese, Iron, 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
Haw QuarryStoneOccurrence
Jacoby Creek DepositLimestone, GeneralOccurrence
Jacoby Creek DepositLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Unnamed LocationClayProspect
Haw QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Rocky Gulch QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
W A Preston ProspectIronProspect
W. A. Preston PropertyIronOccurrence
Hanes CreekManganeseProducer
Janes CreekManganeseProducer

Every working recorded in Humboldt County

Storms near this place

7 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Arcata in 7 storm reports between 2002 and 2025: 2 hail, 2 flood, 2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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
December 2025FloodArcata-Flooding reported on the onramp from Highway 101 to Highway 255 in Arcata.
September 2019Flash FloodArcata-The intersection of Lewis Avenue and Daina Court was flooded.
September 2019Flash FloodArcata-Six to eight inches of flood water observed.
February 2018HailArcata-Hail covered road led to a 19 vehicle accident at the intersection of Highway 101 and Highway 255. 16 injuries were reported.
December 2016FloodArcata-Multiple roads around Humboldt Bay were closed due to flooding beginning December 15th in the morning. Roads gradually reopened through the early afternoon on December 16th as water receded. Roads closed included Hookton, Meridian, Port Kenyon, Coffee Creek, Pine Hill, Jackson Ranch, and Berta. Several other roads were also covered in water but remained open. Many of these roads typically flood during heavy rain events. Thus no damage was reported.
December 2015HailArcata-Pea to quarter sized hail stones were reported by the public due to a thunderstorm. Photo included coins to reference the hail stone size.
December 2002Thunderstorm WindArcata-Thunderstorm embedded in a strong cold front.

Every storm recorded in Humboldt 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
Sunny Brae1.0 miles21
Alliance1.5 miles21
Bayside2.0 miles21
Fickle Hill2.1 miles21
Korblex2.6 miles21
Bracut2.7 miles21
Essex3.7 miles21
Indianola3.7 miles21

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 ArcataAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q631752The 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 277471. 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.