Chaffee, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the East Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93501. The Survey maps it on the Mojave quadrangle. It stands 2,851 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1915 to 1992The same ground, surveyed 77 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1915 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 28 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.
- 1915 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1943 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:24000
- 1948 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1978 USGS Tehachapi quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Mojave quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
81 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 81 fires within 5 miles of Chaffee between 1996 and 2020, burning about 26,792 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 9 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 | 41 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 30 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 0951 |
| 2 September 1998 | Natural | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 0910 |
| 18 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 10 September 2011 | Natural | 25,577 acres | Central California District | COMMANCHE |
| 10 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 10 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 0194 |
| 9 August 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 0177 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 39 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 39 workings within 5 miles of Chaffee: 23 past producers, 6 producers, 4 occurrences, 2 plants. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exposed Treasure Mine | Gold, Silver, Manganese | Past Producer | ||
| Four Star | Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Pride of Mojave Mine | Gold, Copper, Lead, Manganese, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Clay Deposit | Bentonite, Gypsum-Anhydrite | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Feldspar Occurrence | Feldspar | Occurrence | ||
| Emerald Queen Prospect | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Tehachapi Clay | Bentonite | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Uranium Occurrence | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Broken Stone #4 | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
1 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chaffee in 1 storm report in 2011: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chaffee | $100,000 | A big rig was blown over in Highway 58 near mile marker 170 due to a severe thunderstorm wind gust. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sage (historical) | 0.5 miles | 28 | |
| Mojave | 1.0 miles | 28 | |
| Fram (historical) | 2.4 miles | 28 | |
| Cambio (historical) | 2.8 miles | 28 | |
| Reefer City (historical) | 4.3 miles | 28 | |
| Fleta | 4.4 miles | 28 | |
| Gold Town (historical) | 4.5 miles | 28 | |
| Sanborn | 5.7 miles | 30 |
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.
| Wikidata item Q5066784 | 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 1660465. 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.












