BlockBefore

Bear Creek, California

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Merced census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95340. The Survey maps it on the Merced quadrangle. 273 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 190 feet above sea level.

Bear Creek within Merced County

Then and now

1914 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 69 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Bear Creek, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Bear Creek, surveyed 1914

Population over time

2 figures

Bear Creek fell from 290 to 273 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
2010290
2020273-17 (-6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 16 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

851 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 851 fires within 5 miles of Bear Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,497 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 56 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/undetermined479
Equipment and vehicle use145
Debris and open burning95
Arson/incendiarism56
Smoking34
Misuse of fire by a minor24
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Railroad operations and maintenance5
Natural3
Recreation and ceremony3
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
9 September 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitNORTH BEAR CREEK DR E MCK
9 September 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionDUNN
9 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionBERMUDA
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreGrasslands Wildlife Management AreaVASSAR
9 September 1992Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitBROCCO
8 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitSTRETCH RD MCKEE
8 September 2016Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionWHEALAN
8 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitHWY 140 E/ DELL ST

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Merced County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Bear Creek: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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
Bear Creek PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Merced 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
Kadota0.3 miles16
Tuttle2.0 miles16
Calpack3.5 miles15
Merced3.5 miles16
Lingard4.1 miles14
Planada5.3 miles15
Bellevue (historical)5.8 miles16
Fergus6.6 miles17

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 Bear CreekAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q4876373The 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 1659692. 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.