BlockBefore

Bluewater, California

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1911 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Needles census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92242. The Survey maps it on the Parker quadrangle. 116 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 367 feet above sea level.

Bluewater within San Bernardino County

Then and now

1911 to 1985

The same ground, surveyed 74 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Bluewater, surveyed 1985
Topographic sheet of Bluewater, surveyed 1911

Compare 1911 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Bluewater fell from 172 to 116 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
2010172
2020116-56 (-33%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 22 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

150 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 150 fires within 5 miles of Bluewater between 1992 and 2020, burning about 328 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 7 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/undetermined85
Misuse of fire by a minor16
Debris and open burning15
Arson/incendiarism7
Fireworks7
Recreation and ceremony5
Natural4
Smoking4
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Equipment and vehicle use3

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 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River AgencyLUIGI
6 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresColorado River AgencyBOOTH
5 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River AgencyMOHAVE RD
27 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River Agency2 PALM
25 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River AgencyMOHAVE RD
22 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River AgencyS. LOST LK
21 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreColorado River AgencyBOOTH
20 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresColorado River AgencyFATMAN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Bernardino County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 18 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Bluewater: 10 past producers, 5 producers, 3 occurrences. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Copper, Silver, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Silver. 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
Billy Mack MineCopper, Gold, SilverProducer1870, 1960
Capilano MineSilver, Gold, CopperPast Producer
Lion Hill MineGold, Silver, CopperPast Producer1943
Lion Hill Mine GroupGold, Copper, SilverPast Producer
Sue Manganese MineManganese, Copper, Gold, SilverPast Producer1925, 1963
UnknownPumiceOccurrence
Capilano MineGold, Copper, SilverPast ProducerChrysocolla, Gold, Malachite, Specularite
Clay King MineClayOccurrence
Clay King MineClayOccurrence
Rio Vista MineGold, Copper, SilverPast ProducerChrysocolla, Hematite, Malachite, Specularite

Every working recorded in San Bernardino 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
Earp1.7 miles22
Cross Roads4.0 miles25
Big River5.3 miles22
Calzona8.0 miles21
Parker Dam10.3 miles23
Black Meadow Landing12.9 miles23
Vidal13.2 miles18
Tin Shack (historical)13.5 miles21

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 BluewaterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3162501The 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 1867001. 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.