BlockBefore

Clayton, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Central Contra Costa census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94517. It lies near Mitchell Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Clayton quadrangle. 11,070 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 394 feet above sea level.

Clayton within Contra Costa County

Then and now

1896 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 93 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Clayton, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Clayton, surveyed 1896

On record in Clayton

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 1 record

Population over time

3 figures

Clayton grew from 1,385 to 11,070 between 1970 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
19701,385
201010,897
202011,070+173 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 27 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

296 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 296 fires within 5 miles of Clayton between 1992 and 2020, burning about 6,425 acres in total. None started naturally. 54 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/undetermined129
Arson/incendiarism54
Equipment and vehicle use53
Misuse of fire by a minor28
Smoking19
Debris and open burning8
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Firearms and explosives use1

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 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined33 acresSanta Clara Unit3-JUN
8 September 2013Firearms and explosives use3,100 acresSanta Clara UnitMORGAN
7 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionMITCHELL
7 September 2010Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara UnitKIRKER
5 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
30 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Contra Costa County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 79 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 79 workings within 5 miles of Clayton: 25 past producers, 23 occurrences, 14 prospects, 12 producers. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Copper, Asbestos, Silver, Silica. 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
CowellLimestone, DimensionUnknown
Mt. Diablo Lime Marl Co.Limestone, GeneralOccurrenceSedimentary
Silver MineCopper, Manganese, SilverPast Producer
Turtle Rock QuarryStone, DimensionProducer
Unnamed LocationSilica, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Unnamed ProspectZinc, Mercury, CopperPast Producer
Unnamed ProspectZinc, Copper, MercuryPast Producer
Bailey Ranch Pumice DepositPumiceOccurrence
Bailey Ranch Pumice DepositPumicePast Producer
Black PointCopper, MercuryOccurrenceVein

Every working recorded in Contra Costa County

Storms near this place

4 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Clayton in 4 storm reports in 2017: 2 flood, 2 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
January 2017FloodClayton-Marsh Creek Road at Pine Lane roadway completely flooded.
March 2017Debris FlowClayton-Mud/rock slide on Marsh Creek Road near Morgan Territory Road. Large boulders in roadway.
February 2017FloodClayton-Flooding roadway enough to cause vehicles to lose traction Kirker pass NR Hess Rd.
February 2017Debris FlowClayton-Mud slide blocking wb lane of Marsh Creek jeo Aspara.

Every storm recorded in Contra Costa 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
Cowell3.0 miles27
Nortonville3.1 miles27
Somersville3.9 miles29
Stewartville4.6 miles29
Meinert4.9 miles42
Marsh Creek Springs5.5 miles29
Four Corners5.6 miles42
Concord5.7 miles42

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 ClaytonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q948168The 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 277488. 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.