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Chualar, California

26 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Gonzales census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93925. It stands on Chualar Creek. The Survey maps it on the Chualar quadrangle. 1,185 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 115 feet above sea level.

Chualar within Monterey County

Then and now

1910 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 73 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Chualar, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Chualar, surveyed 1910

Compare 1910 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Chualar fell from 1,190 to 1,185 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
20101,190
20201,185-5 (-0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 26 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

32 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Chualar between 1992 and 2020, burning about 449 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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
Equipment and vehicle use14
Missing data/not specified/undetermined11
Debris and open burning6
Arson/incendiarism1

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 1997Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresSan Benito-Monterey UnitRIVER
30 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.1 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
25 September 1993Debris and open burning5.0 acresSan Benito-Monterey UnitSORATOS
15 September 1992Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Benito-Monterey UnitJOHNSON
21 August 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresSan Benito-Monterey UnitMINE
11 August 2007Debris and open burning1.0 acresSan Benito-Monterey UnitENCINAL IC ON WHITE 3
22 July 2010Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
2 July 2004Equipment and vehicle use22 acresSan Benito-Monterey UnitCABEU 002441

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Monterey County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Chualar: 3 past producers, 2 producers, 1 prospect. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Stone, Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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
JohnsonStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
JohnsonStoneProducer
Limekiln Creek DepositLimestone, GeneralProspectSedimentary
Limekiln Creek Deposit-ChualarLimestone, GeneralPast Producer
QuarryStoneProducer

Every working recorded in Monterey County

Storms near this place

10 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chualar in 10 storm reports between 2010 and 2024: 9 flood, 1 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
March 2023FloodChualar$10US Highway 101 near Chualar flooded, causing the highway to be shut down.
February 2024FloodChualar-Old Stage Road was closed a Chualar Road due to flooding.
January 2023FloodChualar-Caltrans reported flooding on US Highway 101 near Esperanza Road in Chualar.
December 2022FloodChualar-CHP reported flooding on Northbound US Highway 101 at Chualar.
January 2021FloodChualar-Road flooded at US-101 N and Chualar, lane closed.
January 2021FloodChualar-Roadway flooding at Old Stage Rd and Esperanza Rd.
January 2021Debris FlowChualar-Mudslide on River Road 1/2 mile NW of Chualar River Rd. Photos show damage to nearby homes and structures.
December 2019FloodChualar-CHP reports that Hwy 101 is under 3 feet of water and is being closed near Esperanze Rd and the City of Chualar.
December 2019FloodChualar-Monterey County OES reporting 5 to 10 homes flooded in Chualar over the course of the afternoon and evening.
January 2010FloodChualar-Heavy rain caused flooding along State Highway 101 just north of Chualar. California Highway Patrol slowed traffic on Highway 101 because of the flooding.

Every storm recorded in Monterey 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
Gabilan (historical)2.1 miles24
Spence3.9 miles26
Dean4.5 miles24
Gonzales5.9 miles24
Spreckels7.7 miles28
Spreckels Junction8.5 miles27
Old Hilltown9.0 miles27
Alisal9.2 miles27

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 ChualarAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2797405The 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 1655896. 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.