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Bear Valley Springs, California

33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Tehachapi census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93561. The Survey maps it on the Bear Mountain quadrangle. 5,592 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,121 feet above sea level.

Bear Valley Springs within Kern County

Then and now

1914 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 78 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 Valley Springs, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Bear Valley Springs, surveyed 1914

Compare 1914 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Bear Valley Springs grew from 5,172 to 5,592 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
20105,172
20205,592+420 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 33 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

35 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 35 fires within 5 miles of Bear Valley Springs between 1992 and 2020, burning about 191 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 2 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/undetermined13
Equipment and vehicle use9
Smoking4
Debris and open burning4
Arson/incendiarism2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Natural1

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
27 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
24 September 2006Smoking1.0 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
2 September 1998Natural4.0 acresTulare UnitBROOM
18 September 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
17 September 2016Equipment and vehicle use1.3 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.1 acresCentral California DistrictROWE
5 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
4 August 1992Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresCentral California DistrictMELBROOK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Bear Valley Springs: 3 prospects, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Lead, Zinc, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Zinc. 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
Barrett PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Helen-Joyce ProspectCopper, Lead, ZincProspect
King Solomon ProspectZincProspect
Powell MineCopper, Lead, Silver, ZincProspect

Every working recorded in Kern 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
Stallion Springs4.9 miles27
Woodford5.5 miles27
Walong5.5 miles27
El Rita5.5 miles27
Keene5.7 miles27
Rowen6.3 miles27
Marcel6.3 miles27
Old Town7.2 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.

Wikipedia article on Bear Valley SpringsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2083078The 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 1866997. 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.