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California City, California

25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1976. It stands in the East Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93505. The Survey maps it on the California City North quadrangle. 14,973 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,405 feet above sea level.

California City within Kern County

Then and now

1915 to 1976

The same ground, surveyed 61 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of California City, surveyed 1976
Topographic sheet of California City, surveyed 1915

Population over time

2 figures

California City grew from 14,120 to 14,973 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
201014,120
202014,973+853 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 25 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

5 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of California City between 2008 and 2015, burning about 1,545 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None 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/undetermined2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Recreation and ceremony1
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
18 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictJOSHUA 09
24 June 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined300 acresKern County Fire DepartmentROCKY
6 May 2008Natural1,225 acresSequoia National ForestHONEYBEE
20 May 2015Recreation and ceremony20 acresSequoia National ForestFISH
8 November 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSequoia National ForestCANNELL

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of California City: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Unnamed QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern 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
Trescape (historical)4.9 miles28
Neuralia (historical)5.9 miles28
Cambio (historical)8.1 miles28
Bissell9.1 miles28
Cinco9.9 miles27
Aerial Acres10.6 miles28
Chaffee10.6 miles28
Sanborn10.7 miles30

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 California CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q732125The 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 1660418. 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.