BlockBefore

Bellflower, California

46 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Downey-Norwalk census division. It lies in ZIP code area 90706. The Survey maps it on the Whittier quadrangle. 79,190 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 72 feet above sea level.

Bellflower within Los Angeles County

Then and now

1896 to 1981

The 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.

Topographic sheet of Bellflower, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Bellflower, surveyed 1896

Compare 1896 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Bellflower grew from 76,616 to 79,190 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
201076,616
202079,190+2,574 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

18 surveys from 46 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

405 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 405 fires within 5 miles of Bellflower between 2005 and 2020, burning about 8,176 acres in total. None started naturally. 39 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/undetermined287
Arson/incendiarism39
Smoking35
Equipment and vehicle use18
Misuse of fire by a minor17
Debris and open burning6
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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
8 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Angeles County Fire Departmentnot named
6 September 2009Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2007Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2005Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2005Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
30 September 2018Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
30 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Los Angeles County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Bellflower: 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Clay. 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
Santa Fe Springs PlantClayProducer
Torrance Brick Co - Torr Plant No 1ClayPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Los Angeles County

Storms near this place

2 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bellflower in 2 storm reports between 2000 and 2008: 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash 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 2008Flash FloodBellflower-California Highway Patrol reported heavy rain and flash flooding near the community of Bellflower. Reports indicated over 2 feet of water flooded Interstate 605 in Bellflower.
April 2000Thunderstorm WindBellflower-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Los Angeles 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
Rendalia1.1 miles44
Dolley1.8 miles49
Artesia2.1 miles49
Lakewood2.1 miles46
Paramount2.3 miles44
Norwalk2.3 miles47
Clearwater2.5 miles44
Studebaker2.8 miles47

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 BellflowerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q815979The 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 1652671. 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.