Bicknell, California
29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Santa Maria census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93455. It lies near Camelback Hill. The Survey maps it on the Orcutt quadrangle.
Then and now
1905 to 1989The same ground, surveyed 84 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
15 surveys from 29 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.
- 1905 USGS Lompoc quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1942 USGS Lompoc quadrangle1:125000
- 1942 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Lompoc quadrangle1:125000
- 1947 USGS Orcutt quadrangle1:24000
- 1947 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Orcutt quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1959 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS Santa Maria quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
61 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 61 fires within 5 miles of Bicknell between 2000 and 2020, burning about 10,389 acres in total. None 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/undetermined | 53 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Barbara County Fire Department | not named |
| 9 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7.5 acres | Santa Barbara County Fire Department | not named |
| 28 September 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.4 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 24 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 17 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Santa Barbara County Fire Department | not named |
| 14 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 13 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,700 acres | California Southern Region Operations | HARRIS |
| 11 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Barbara County Fire Department | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Bicknell: 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sulfur. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graciosa Ridge | Sulfur | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
1 since 2023Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bicknell in 1 storm report in 2023: 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2023 | Flash Flood | Bicknell | - | Heavy rainfall generated flash flooding near the 1300 block on Highway 135, near Vandenberg Village. Swift water rescue team had to rescue two people who drove their vehicles around barricades and into the flooded roadway. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cimarron Estates | 3.3 miles | 29 | |
| Palmer (historical) | 3.9 miles | 29 | |
| Roadamite (historical) | 4.0 miles | 29 | |
| Orcutt | 4.0 miles | 29 | |
| Sisquoc | 6.3 miles | 29 | |
| Garey | 6.5 miles | 27 | |
| Devon | 6.9 miles | 32 | |
| Casmalia | 7.5 miles | 32 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1660330. 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.














