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Big Lagoon, California

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1945 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the North Coastal census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95570. It stands on Gray Creek. The Survey maps it on the Trinidad OE N quadrangle. 161 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 56 feet above sea level.

Big Lagoon within Humboldt County

Then and now

1945 to 1982

The same ground, surveyed 37 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Big Lagoon, surveyed 1982
Topographic sheet of Big Lagoon, surveyed 1945

Population over time

2 figures

Big Lagoon grew from 93 to 161 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
201093
2020161+68 (+73%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 11 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

42 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 42 fires within 5 miles of Big Lagoon between 1992 and 2020, burning about 26 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 1 was 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/undetermined15
Equipment and vehicle use13
Debris and open burning6
Recreation and ceremony4
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Smoking1
Arson/incendiarism1
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
9 September 1993Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitVIBE
5 September 2000Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitOCEAN
3 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitLAGOON
23 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreRedwood National and State ParksDRY LAGOON
19 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionDRY
17 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNorthern California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 3621
14 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionPATRICK
11 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitLAGOON

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Humboldt County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Big Lagoon: 5 occurrences, 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Clay, Platinum, Stone. 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
Big Lagoon Mining Co.Gold, PlatinumProducer1855
Dry Lagoon DriveClayOccurrenceSedimentary
Pitcher Sone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
UnknownStoneOccurrence
Big LagoonGoldPast Producer
RedwoodGoldPast Producer
Reported OccurrenceGoldOccurrence
Reported OccurrencesGoldOccurrence

Every working recorded in Humboldt County

Storms near this place

2 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Big Lagoon in 2 storm reports in 1998: 1 rip current, 1 coastal flood. The reports record 1 death. 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
October 1998Rip CurrentBig Lagoon1 killedno account filed
February 1998Coastal FloodBig Lagoon-Beach erosion due to ongoing large surf began to crumble a bluff with several homes. The homes nearest the ocean were either condemed or moved away from the cliff. The erosion continued for several weeks.

Every storm recorded in Humboldt 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
Shumig (historical)2.0 miles11
Patricks Point2.8 miles11
Tsurau (historical)7.0 miles11
Trinidad7.0 miles11
Westhaven8.7 miles13
Moonstone9.1 miles13
Ore'q (historical)9.5 miles12
Orick9.6 miles12

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 Big LagoonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q4905940The 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 1658053. 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.