Bowman, California
33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Auburn census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95603. It stands on Clipper Creek. The Survey maps it on the Auburn quadrangle. It stands 1,617 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1891 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 103 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
12 surveys from 33 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.
- 1891 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1893 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:125000
- 1944 USGS Auburn quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1947 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Auburn quadrangle1:24000, 9 printings
- 1954 USGS Auburn quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1975 USGS Auburn quadrangle1:24000
- 1994 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1,026 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,026 fires within 5 miles of Bowman between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,987 acres in total. 10 started naturally. 62 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 | 437 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 263 |
| Debris and open burning | 154 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 62 |
| Smoking | 34 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 31 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 22 |
| Natural | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 4 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Fireworks | 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 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | GERRY |
| 9 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | EDGEWOOD |
| 9 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | SHAWNEE |
| 9 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | AUBURN |
| 9 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | AIRPORT |
| 9 September 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | CEADER |
| 9 September 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 acres | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | FORESTHILL |
| 8 September 2011 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | LINCOLN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 214 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 214 workings within 5 miles of Bowman: 68 unknowns, 66 occurrences, 65 past producers, 13 producers. 13 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Copper, Silver, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booth | Gold, Copper, Silver, Lead | Occurrence | ||
| Cool-Cave Valley Quarry | Limestone, General | Producer | ||
| Coulton Lime and Stone-Auburn Plant | Limestone, Dimension | Producer | ||
| Davenport Deposit | Silica | Occurrence | ||
| Eclipse Consolidated | Gold, Copper, Lead, Silver, Zinc | Unknown | ||
| Eclipse Consolidated | Gold, Copper, Silver, Lead, Zinc | Past Producer | Argentite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| Elder Mine | Copper, Molybdenum | Occurrence | Chalcopyrite, Malachite, Pyrite | |
| Golden Stag | Gold, Silver, Molybdenum | Past Producer | Gold, Molybdenite | |
| Green Point Mercury and Uranium Psp | Mercury, Uranium | Prospect | ||
| Hathaway | Gold, Lead, Silver, Zinc, Copper, Arsenic | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Marcasite, Pyrite |
Storms near this place
3 since 2014Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bowman in 3 storm reports between 2014 and 2025: 1 flash flood, 1 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2014 | Flash Flood | Bowman | $1,000 | Roadway flooding at Foresthill Rd. off ramp in North Auburn. No vehicle could pass. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bowman | - | Strong winds brought down a tree that was blocking Old Foresthill Road and State Route 49. |
| March 2023 | Flood | Bowman | - | The California Highway Patrol reported a mudslide in the roadway between Old Auburn Foresthill Road and Mammoth Bar Road. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nielsburg | 1.3 miles | 33 | |
| North Auburn | 2.0 miles | 33 | |
| Clipper Gap | 2.5 miles | 33 | |
| Elders Corner | 3.0 miles | 33 | |
| Millertown (historical) | 3.2 miles | 33 | |
| Auburn | 3.5 miles | 33 | |
| Meadow Vista | 4.3 miles | 29 | |
| Applegate | 5.0 miles | 34 |
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 Bowman | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4951282 | 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 1658118. 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.











