BlockBefore

Brookdale, California

32 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1902 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the San Lorenzo Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95007. It stands on Clear Creek. The Survey maps it on the Felton quadrangle. 2,043 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 405 feet above sea level.

Brookdale within Santa Cruz County

Then and now

1902 to 1998

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Brookdale, surveyed 1998
Topographic sheet of Brookdale, surveyed 1902

On record in Brookdale

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Population over time

2 figures

Brookdale grew from 1,991 to 2,043 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
20101,991
20202,043+52 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

15 surveys from 32 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

444 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 444 fires within 5 miles of Brookdale between 1992 and 2020, burning about 750 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 22 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/undetermined176
Equipment and vehicle use124
Debris and open burning34
Misuse of fire by a minor32
Recreation and ceremony23
Arson/incendiarism22
Smoking18
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Natural4
Other causes2
Railroad operations and maintenance1

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 2013Smokingunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitCREEKSIDE AV ZAYANTE
9 September 1999Naturalunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitMARTIN
9 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitEMPIRE GRADE
9 September 1993Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitBEAR CREEK #3
9 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitBEAR CREEK NUMBER 2
8 September 2015Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitLAKE
8 September 1999Naturalunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitUPPER
8 September 1997Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitROAD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Cruz 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 Brookdale: 7 past producers, 6 producers, 3 occurrences, 2 unknowns. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, Dimension, Gold, 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
Central Supply CoFlagstoneUnknown
Felton QuarryStoneProducer
Pacific Cement and Aggregates IncSand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Big Boulder MineGoldUnknown
Unnamed LocationGoldOccurrence
Holmes Lime & Cement CoLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Ixl QuarryLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
Unnamed LocationLimestone, DimensionOccurrence
Unnamed LocationLimestone, DimensionOccurrence
Geyer PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Santa Cruz County

Storms near this place

5 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brookdale in 5 storm reports between 2017 and 2025: 3 flood, 2 debris flow. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2025FloodBrookdale-The bridge carrying California Highway 9 over the San Lorenzo River near Brookdale was flooded.
January 2020FloodBrookdale-Roadway flooding at Sr-9 and Mill Street.
January 2019FloodBrookdale-Mud in roadway at 12660 Lompico Road.
February 2017Debris FlowBrookdale-Landslide Alba Rd near HWY9. Entire roadway blocked.
February 2017Debris FlowBrookdale-Rockslide sb lane SR9 between Boulder Creek and Brookdale.

Every storm recorded in Santa Cruz 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
Ben Lomond1.6 miles32
Boulder Creek1.6 miles34
Glen Arbor2.5 miles32
Forest Park2.6 miles33
Lompico2.8 miles32
Brackney2.9 miles32
Bracken Brae3.0 miles33
Forest Springs3.2 miles33

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 BrookdaleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2892145The 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 1655847. 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.