BlockBefore

Belden, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Feather River Canyon census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95915. It lies in Belden Ravine. The Survey maps it on the Caribou quadrangle. 15 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,221 feet above sea level.

Belden within Plumas County

Then and now

1886 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 108 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Belden, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Belden, surveyed 1886

Population over time

2 figures

Belden fell from 22 to 15 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
201022
202015-7 (-32%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 27 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

69 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 69 fires within 5 miles of Belden between 1992 and 2019, burning about 95,032 acres in total. 30 started naturally. 6 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
Natural30
Missing data/not specified/undetermined12
Arson/incendiarism6
Railroad operations and maintenance5
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Recreation and ceremony4
Equipment and vehicle use3
Debris and open burning3
Smoking1

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
5 September 2017Naturalunder an acrePlumas National ForestCHERRY
5 September 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
30 September 2008Power generation/transmission/distribution5.0 acresPlumas National ForestROCK
28 September 2007Naturalunder an acrePlumas National ForestLOMOND
27 September 2005Naturalunder an acrePlumas National ForestROGERS
26 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acrePlumas National ForestBELDON
15 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acrePlumas National ForestSERPENTINE
14 September 1998Smokingunder an acrePlumas National ForestDAM

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Plumas County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 46 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 46 workings within 5 miles of Belden: 18 past producers, 12 occurrences, 8 unknowns, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Chromium, Nickel. 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
Belden MineGold, Lead, Silver, CopperProspect
Dew DropSilver, LeadOccurrence
Galena MineGold, Copper, Lead, SilverProspect
Mordine and MoraineGold, Copper, SilverProducer
Rich Bar DepositGold, Silver, PlatinumProducer1850
Upper FeatherGold, PGEUnknown
Upper FeatherGold, Platinum, MercuryProducerSTREAM PLACER
WilliamsSilver, Lead, Zinc, CopperOccurrence
Middle CampgroundNickelOccurrence1957
Middle CampgroundNickelUnknown

Every working recorded in Plumas County

Storms near this place

4 since 2022

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Belden in 4 storm reports between 2022 and 2026: 2 debris flow, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
January 2026FloodBelden-California Highway Patrol reported multiple baseball or bigger sized rocks and mud in the road on Westbound Highway 70 in Belden.
December 2024FloodBelden-Caltrans reported a rockslide 3.5 miles east of Belden along State Route 70. The road was closed for about 4 hours.
June 2023Debris FlowBelden-Heavy rain from thunderstorms produced a debris flow/ rock slide along Highway 70 at Serpentine Curves near Belden. This was reported by the California Highway Patrol.
June 2022Debris FlowBelden-The Plumas County Sheriff reported that there were two rock/mud slides and/or debris flows on Hwy 70 one mile west of Belden and near Rogers Flat in the Dixie Fire Burn Scar, with vehicles trapped between the slides. The occupants were rescued, however their vehicles remained temporarily stranded in the area with the road closed for several days. Rain gauge reports from 0.50 to 1.00 inches over a 2 hour period from 12 pm to 2 pm.

Every storm recorded in Plumas 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
Haven1.0 miles27
Rodgers Flat3.6 miles25
Tobin5.7 miles25
Rock Crest6.5 miles25
Rock Creek Camp6.5 miles25
Caribou7.1 miles27
Storrie7.3 miles25
Virgilia7.7 miles25

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 BeldenAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2049949The 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 266440. 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.