Chester, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Chester census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96020. It lies near Johnson Fields. The Survey maps it on the Chester quadrangle. 2,187 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,534 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1886 to 1995The same ground, surveyed 109 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Chester
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 2 records
Drakesbad Guest Ranchlisted 2003
Warner Valley Ranger Stationlisted 1978
Population over time
2 figuresChester grew from 2,144 to 2,187 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2,144 | |
| 2020 | 2,187 | +43 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 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.
- 1886 USGS Lassen Peak quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Lassen Peak quadrangle1:250000
- 1894 USGS Lassen Peak quadrangle1:250000, 8 printings
- 1955 USGS Westwood quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Chester quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Westwood quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Westwood quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Susanville quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1968 USGS Susanville quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1989 USGS Lake Almanor quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1995 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
151 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 151 fires within 5 miles of Chester between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,701 acres in total. 31 started naturally. 7 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 | 53 |
| Natural | 31 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 18 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 15 |
| Smoking | 11 |
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 7 |
| 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 2005 | Natural | 1,525 acres | Lassen Volcanic National Park | HORSESHOE |
| 8 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Lassen-Modoc Unit | 2ND AVE CHESTER |
| 8 September 1997 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Lassen National Forest | MICKEY |
| 5 September 2017 | Natural | under an acre | Lassen National Forest | STOVER |
| 4 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Lassen-Modoc Unit | 10K |
| 27 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Lassen-Modoc Unit | C16 |
| 25 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | CAROL |
| 24 September 2006 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Lassen-Modoc Unit | MAYWOOD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Chester: 2 unknowns, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Lake Almanor Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
2 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chester in 2 storm reports between 2015 and 2020: 2 hail. 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Almanor West | 5.0 miles | 26 | |
| Foxwood | 5.5 miles | 28 | |
| Lake Almanor Peninsula | 5.7 miles | 28 | |
| Peninsula Village | 5.8 miles | 28 | |
| Lake Almanor Country Club | 6.0 miles | 28 | |
| Almanor | 6.9 miles | 26 | |
| Hamilton Branch | 7.8 miles | 25 | |
| Prattville | 7.8 miles | 26 |
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 Chester | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q301176 | 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 277487. 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.











