Cherokee, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 2000. It stands in the Nevada City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95959. The Survey maps it on the Nevada City quadrangle. It stands 2,516 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1888 to 2000The same ground, surveyed 112 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
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.
- 1888 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000
- 1891 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Smartsville quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1948 USGS Nevada City quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1948 USGS Nevada City quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1950 USGS Nevada City quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1993 USGS Yuba City quadrangle1:100000
- 1995 USGS Nevada City quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 2000 USGS Nevada City quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
330 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 330 fires within 5 miles of Cherokee between 1992 and 2020, burning about 763 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 15 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 | 113 |
| Debris and open burning | 90 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 62 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 14 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Smoking | 8 |
| Natural | 6 |
| Other causes | 4 |
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 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | BYRON |
| 8 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Central California District | SWEET |
| 7 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | GOLD COUNTRY MHP NORTH_SA |
| 7 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 acres | Central California District | PURDON |
| 6 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | not named |
| 6 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7.0 acres | Central California District | UNNAMED FIRE 2009 |
| 5 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9.0 acres | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | CANYON |
| 4 September 2004 | Smoking | under an acre | Central California District | SHADY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 158 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 158 workings within 5 miles of Cherokee: 66 occurrences, 51 past producers, 36 unknowns, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Copper, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boss Con Qtz. | Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc | Past Producer | Gold | |
| Boss Mine | Copper, Gold, Silver | Past Producer | Underground | |
| Enterprise Qtz | Gold, Zinc, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Sphalerite | |
| Grizzley Ridge | Gold, Silver, Copper | Past Producer | Surface/Underground | |
| Newton Deposit | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Occurrence | Stone, Dimension | Occurrence | ||
| San Juan Ridge | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | 1851 | |
| West Delhi | Gold, Arsenic | Past Producer | Underground | |
| Essannie Sand and Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Trood Mine | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Badger Hill (historical) | 1.3 miles | 27 | |
| North Columbia | 3.0 miles | 33 | |
| North San Juan | 3.2 miles | 28 | |
| Sebastopol | 4.2 miles | 28 | |
| Sweetland | 4.5 miles | 28 | |
| Lake City | 5.4 miles | 33 | |
| Blue Tent | 5.5 miles | 33 | |
| Shelby Flat (historical) | 5.7 miles | 28 |
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 Cherokee | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5092112 | 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 1658264. 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.












