BlockBefore

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.

Columbia within Tuolumne County

Then and now

1891 to 2001

The 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.

Topographic sheet of Columbia, surveyed 2001
Topographic sheet of Columbia, surveyed 1891

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.

Population over time

2 figures

Columbia 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.

YearPeople Change
20102,297
20202,577+280 (+12%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 37 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

610 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined242
Equipment and vehicle use119
Debris and open burning113
Misuse of fire by a minor35
Arson/incendiarism34
Natural23
Power generation/transmission/distribution18
Smoking16
Recreation and ceremony6
Other causes2
Fireworks2

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 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTuolumne-Calaveras UnitMONO
9 September 2002Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCentral California DistrictPARROTS
9 September 1999Naturalunder an acreTuolumne-Calaveras UnitLIGHTNING#37
9 September 1999Natural1.0 acresCentral California DistrictLIGHTING 24
9 September 1999Naturalunder an acreCentral California DistrictLIGHTNING 30
9 September 1996Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreTuolumne-Calaveras UnitCOX
9 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTuolumne-Calaveras UnitFERENCZY
8 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined100 acresTuolumne-Calaveras UnitOAK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Tuolumne County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 385 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
ArgentumGold, Lead, ZincProducerGalena, Gold, Pyrite, Sphalerite
B Brown We Finch Ad HunterTalc-SoapstoneOccurrence
ExperimentalGold, Silver, Copper, LeadPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite
ExperimentalGold, Lead, SilverOccurrence
Golden StarGold, Copper, Lead, SilverPast Producer
Hard To FindGold, Silver, CopperPast Producer
NorwegianGold, Silver, Lead, Copper, MercuryPast ProducerBornite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite
SonoraSilver, GoldProducer
White Lead GravelTin, GoldOccurrence
White QuarryPumice, Limestone, GeneralProducer

Every working recorded in Tuolumne County

Storms near this place

2 since 2006

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
January 2023Thunderstorm WindColumbia$1,000Tree down across Italian Bar Rd. There was a gust of 37 mph measured at nearby Columbia Airport.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindColumbia-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Tuolumne 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
Columbia Village0.9 miles37
Springfield1.2 miles37
Yankee Hill1.3 miles37
Martinez1.5 miles37
Squabbletown1.7 miles37
Shaws Flat2.0 miles37
Browns Flat2.4 miles37
Saratoga Acres2.4 miles37

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 ColumbiaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1112365The 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.