BlockBefore

Atherton, California

51 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1897 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the San Mateo census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94027. The Survey maps it on the Palo Alto quadrangle. 7,188 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 59 feet above sea level.

Atherton within San Mateo County

Then and now

1897 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Atherton, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Atherton, surveyed 1897

Compare 1897 against another survey:

On record in Atherton

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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Atherton grew from 6,914 to 7,188 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
20106,914
20207,188+274 (+4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

22 surveys from 51 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

232 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 232 fires within 5 miles of Atherton between 1992 and 2020, burning about 102 acres in total. None started naturally. 16 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/undetermined138
Equipment and vehicle use36
Arson/incendiarism16
Smoking15
Misuse of fire by a minor11
Debris and open burning8
Recreation and ceremony5
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Other causes1

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
6 September 2013Equipment and vehicle use1.2 acresSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitALPINE
6 September 1993Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitPIPE
5 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz Unitnot named
5 September 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
5 September 2009Debris and open burningunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
4 September 1992Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitS.F. WATERSHED
30 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionNB HWY 280 / SAND HILL R
26 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitEMERALD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Mateo 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 Atherton: 12 producers, 10 past producers, 5 unknowns, 1 occurrence. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Mercury, Gypsum-Anhydrite. 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
Ideal Cement CompanyLimestone, General, ClayProducer
Palo Alto Sewage SludgeGold, Silver, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Copper, Tin, PalladiumOccurrenceAsh
Redwood City OperationHaliteProducer
Granite RockSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Granite RockSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Kaiser GypsumGypsum-AnhydriteProducerSedimentary
Kaiser GypsumGypsum-AnhydritePast Producer
Redwood City OperationSaltPast Producer
Redwood City PlantSaltProducer
ChallengeMercuryPast Producer1955

Every working recorded in San Mateo County

Storms near this place

7 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Atherton in 7 storm reports between 2014 and 2020: 5 flood, 1 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 2014Flash FloodAtherton$500,000Heavy rain caused flooding of several trailer parks in Redwood City. The combination of standing water and a local creek flooding resulted in the need for residents to be evacuated from the Le Mar Trailer Park and RC Mobile Home Park on E Bayshore in Redwood City. 50 mobile homes were evacuated and residents were sent to shelters.
December 2018Thunderstorm WindAtherton$10,000A tree fell on a house in the early morning in Atherton. A pine tree fell through the roof and into a bedroom. No injuries https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Nobody-Injured-Christmas-Morning-After-Tree-Falls-13490931.php.
January 2020FloodAtherton-Roadway flooding on US-101 S and Marsh Rd off ramp.
January 2019FloodAtherton-Roadway flooding at 355 Convention Way.
February 2017FloodAtherton-Multiple reports of all lanes blocked on NB HWY 101 at Woodside Rd due to crash and flooding.
February 2017FloodAtherton-At least two lanes flooding US 101 South near Woodside Road off ramp.
February 2015FloodAtherton-Heavy rain resulted in flooding of Southbound US 101 offramp.

Every storm recorded in San Mateo 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
Park Forest0.3 miles51
Lloyden Park0.4 miles51
Felton Gables0.4 miles51
Fair Oaks0.9 miles51
North Fair Oaks0.9 miles51
Menlo Park1.0 miles51
Lindenwood1.1 miles51
Stanford Park1.5 miles51

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 AthertonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2869080The 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 1657960. 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.