Colton, California
38 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the San Bernardino census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92324. It stands on Warm Creek. The Survey maps it on the San Bernardino South quadrangle. 53,909 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,004 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1896 to 1982The same ground, surveyed 86 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1896 against another survey:
On record in Colton
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
Carnegie Public Library Buildinglisted 1988
Population over time
2 figuresColton grew from 52,154 to 53,909 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 | 52,154 | |
| 2020 | 53,909 | +1,755 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
19 surveys from 38 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.
- 1896 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500
- 1898 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500
- 1901 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500, 8 printings
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1938 USGS Colton quadrangle1:31680
- 1942 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Colton quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS San Bernardino South quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS San Bernardino South quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1975 USGS San Bernardino South quadrangle1:24000
- 1982 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
909 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 909 fires within 5 miles of Colton between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,836 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 123 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 | 572 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 123 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 90 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 55 |
| Smoking | 33 |
| Debris and open burning | 25 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2006 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | San Bernardino Unit | GOLFBALL |
| 7 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Bernardino Unit | not named |
| 7 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Riverside Unit | CHAMOMILE INC |
| 7 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 27 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 27 workings within 5 miles of Colton: 20 past producers, 6 producers, 1 occurrence. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Calcium, Marble, Dimension. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Creek | Mercury | Occurrence | ||
| Colton Cement Plant | Limestone, General, Calcium, Cement Rock | Producer | ||
| Hancock's Brick Yard | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| San Bernardino Plant | Limestone, Dimension | Producer | ||
| Santa Ana River Pit | Silica | Past Producer | ||
| Slover Mountain Quarry | Calcium, Marble, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Calif. Portland Cement Co. | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Colton Deposit | Limestone, General | Past Producer | ||
| San Bernadino Plant | Limestone, General | Producer | ||
| Bloomington Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
10 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Colton in 10 storm reports between 2001 and 2017: 4 wildfire, 2 flood, 1 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2002 | Wildfire | Colton | 2 hurt | no account filed |
| February 2001 | Heavy Rain | Colton | $150,000 | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Wildfire | Colton | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Lightning | Colton | $15,000 | A lightning strike damaged a critical power transformer in Colton, cutting power to 95% of the city. An estimated 50,000 customers lost power. Area schools closed due to a lack of power that lingered into the following day. |
| February 2004 | Flash Flood | Colton | $10,000 | no account filed |
| September 2015 | Flood | Colton | - | Valley Blvd. was flooded between Hermosa and Grand Avenues. |
| August 2014 | Flood | Colton | - | CHP reported a vehicle almost under water at the intersection of Reche Canyon Road and Prado Lane. |
| February 2004 | Funnel Cloud | Colton | - | no account filed |
| January 2002 | Wildfire | Colton | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Wildfire | Colton | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethune | 0.5 miles | 38 | |
| Bunker Hill | 0.7 miles | 38 | |
| Rana | 1.1 miles | 38 | |
| Valley Gardens | 1.9 miles | 38 | |
| East Colton Heights | 1.9 miles | 38 | |
| West Colton | 2.1 miles | 38 | |
| Garden Park | 2.6 miles | 38 | |
| San Bernardino | 2.7 miles | 38 |
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 Colton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q846606 | 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 1652688. 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.


















