Columbia, California
37 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 2001. It stands in the Twain Harte-Tuolumne City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95310. It lies near Matelot Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Columbia quadrangle. 2,577 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,139 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1891 to 2001The same ground, surveyed 110 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Columbia
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 within a mile 1 record
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
Columbia Historic DistrictNational Historic Landmark · listed 1966 · 0.1 miles away
Population over time
2 figuresColumbia grew from 2,297 to 2,577 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 | 2,297 | |
| 2020 | 2,577 | +280 (+12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 37 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.
- 1891 USGS Big Trees quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Big Trees quadrangle1:125000
- 1897 USGS Big Trees quadrangle1:125000
- 1901 USGS Big Trees quadrangle1:125000, 9 printings
- 1947 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1948 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1948 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1993 USGS San Andreas quadrangle1:100000
- 2001 USGS Columbia quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
610 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 610 fires within 5 miles of Columbia between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,989 acres in total. 23 started naturally. 34 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 | 242 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 119 |
| Debris and open burning | 113 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 35 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 34 |
| Natural | 23 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 18 |
| Smoking | 16 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
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 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | MONO |
| 9 September 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Central California District | PARROTS |
| 9 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | LIGHTNING#37 |
| 9 September 1999 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Central California District | LIGHTING 24 |
| 9 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Central California District | LIGHTNING 30 |
| 9 September 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | COX |
| 9 September 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | FERENCZY |
| 8 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 acres | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | OAK |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 385 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 385 workings within 5 miles of Columbia: 135 unknowns, 87 occurrences, 83 past producers, 73 producers. 73 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Manganese, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentum | Gold, Lead, Zinc | Producer | Galena, Gold, Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| B Brown We Finch Ad Hunter | Talc-Soapstone | Occurrence | ||
| Experimental | Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite | |
| Experimental | Gold, Lead, Silver | Occurrence | ||
| Golden Star | Gold, Copper, Lead, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Hard To Find | Gold, Silver, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Norwegian | Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Mercury | Past Producer | Bornite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite | |
| Sonora | Silver, Gold | Producer | ||
| White Lead Gravel | Tin, Gold | Occurrence | ||
| White Quarry | Pumice, Limestone, General | Producer |
Storms near this place
2 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Columbia in 2 storm reports between 2006 and 2023: 2 thunderstorm wind. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | $1,000 | Tree down across Italian Bar Rd. There was a gust of 37 mph measured at nearby Columbia Airport. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Columbia | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Village | 0.9 miles | 37 | |
| Springfield | 1.2 miles | 37 | |
| Yankee Hill | 1.3 miles | 37 | |
| Martinez | 1.5 miles | 37 | |
| Squabbletown | 1.7 miles | 37 | |
| Shaws Flat | 2.0 miles | 37 | |
| Browns Flat | 2.4 miles | 37 | |
| Saratoga Acres | 2.4 miles | 37 |
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 Columbia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1112365 | 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 277490. 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.












