Black Bear, California
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1948 and the latest in 2001. It stands in the Etna census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96027. It lies near Callahan Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Cecilville quadrangle.
Then and now
1948 to 2001The same ground, surveyed 53 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
9 surveys from 18 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.
- 1948 USGS Weed quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Weed quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Cecilville quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1958 USGS Weed quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1963 USGS Weed quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS Cecilville quadrangle1:24000
- 1979 USGS Cecilville quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1983 USGS Hoopa quadrangle1:100000
- 2001 USGS Cecilville quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
54 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 54 fires within 5 miles of Black Bear between 1992 and 2020, burning about 12,418 acres in total. 35 started naturally. 5 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 35 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2017 | Natural | 13 acres | Klamath National Forest | FOURTH |
| 3 September 1992 | Natural | under an acre | Klamath National Forest | not named |
| 3 September 1992 | Natural | under an acre | Klamath National Forest | not named |
| 29 September 1994 | Natural | under an acre | Klamath National Forest | not named |
| 24 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.2 acres | Klamath National Forest | KANAKA |
| 24 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Klamath National Forest | BOULDER |
| 14 September 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Klamath National Forest | BROWNS |
| 13 September 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Klamath National Forest | SAAME |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 185 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 185 workings within 5 miles of Black Bear: 91 past producers, 68 unknowns, 17 producers, 7 occurrences. 17 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Manganese, Tungsten. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jessops Gulch | Gold, Iridium, Osmium | Producer | 1855 | |
| Mountain Laurel Mine | Gold, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Peterson Mine | Gold, Platinum, Osmium, Iridium | Producer | Stream Placer | |
| Peterson Mine | Gold, PGE | Unknown | ||
| Reported Occurrence | Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Reported Occurrences | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Rollin School Deposit | Arsenic | Occurrence | ||
| Gold Ball Mining Co. | Gold, Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Ida May | Gold, Lead | Past Producer | Gold | |
| Orcutt Hydraulic Mine | Gold, Platinum | Producer | 1855 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bestville | 4.5 miles | 15 | |
| Sawyers Bar | 4.6 miles | 15 | |
| Cecilville | 7.2 miles | 18 | |
| Gilta (historical) | 8.4 miles | 14 | |
| Summerville | 11.4 miles | 18 | |
| Foster | 11.6 miles | 33 | |
| Somes Bar | 18.4 miles | 14 | |
| Callahan | 20.5 miles | 33 |
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 Black Bear | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q16965012 | 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 219337. 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.








