Bell Gardens, California
46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the South Gate-East Los Angeles census division. It lies in ZIP code area 90201. The Survey maps it on the South Gate quadrangle. 39,501 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 121 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1896 to 1981The same ground, surveyed 85 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1896 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresBell Gardens fell from 42,072 to 39,501 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 42,072 | |
| 2020 | 39,501 | -2,571 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
19 surveys from 46 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1896 USGS Downey quadrangle1:62500
- 1899 USGS Downey quadrangle1:62500
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1902 USGS Downey quadrangle1:62500, 9 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1923 USGS Bell quadrangle1:24000
- 1925 USGS Bell quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1936 USGS Bell quadrangle1:24000
- 1942 USGS Downey quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Downey quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS San Pedro quadrangle1:125000
- 1949 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1949 USGS South Gate quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1952 USGS South gate quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1964 USGS South Gate quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1981 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
557 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 557 fires within 5 miles of Bell Gardens between 1992 and 2020, burning about 5,611 acres in total. None started naturally. 51 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/undetermined | 388 |
| Smoking | 52 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 51 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 28 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 24 |
| Debris and open burning | 10 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Los Angeles County Fire Department | not named |
| 8 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Los Angeles County Fire Department | not named |
| 7 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2011 | Smoking | under an acre | Los Angeles County Fire Department | not named |
| 6 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Bell Gardens: 6 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L. A. Decomposed Granite Co. | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Mccaslin Materials Co | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Pacific Clay Products Co | Clay | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Pacific Clay Products Co. East Pit | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Simons Brick Co. | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Simons Brick Co.-Montebello Plant | Clay | Past Producer |
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.
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 Bell Gardens | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q815720 | The 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 1660323. 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.


















