BlockBefore

Compton, California

45 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Compton census division. It lies in ZIP code area 90220. The Survey maps it on the South Gate quadrangle. 95,740 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 69 feet above sea level.

Compton within Los Angeles County

Then and now

1896 to 1981

The same ground, surveyed 85 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Compton, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Compton, surveyed 1896

Compare 1896 against another survey:

On record in Compton

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

2 figures

Compton fell from 96,455 to 95,740 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
201096,455
202095,740-715 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

18 surveys from 45 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

443 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 443 fires within 5 miles of Compton between 2005 and 2020, burning about 6,724 acres in total. None started naturally. 32 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/undetermined314
Smoking44
Arson/incendiarism32
Equipment and vehicle use20
Misuse of fire by a minor18
Debris and open burning13
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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 2008Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Angeles County Fire Departmentnot named
8 September 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2005Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
30 September 2018Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Los Angeles County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Compton: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Lead, Silver, Zinc, Silica, Clay. 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
Atkinson PitClayPast Producer
Miller Bros. Truck Co.- Vollmer PitSilicaPast Producer
Unnamed QuarryLead, Silver, ZincPast Producer

Every working recorded in Los Angeles County

Storms near this place

4 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Compton in 4 storm reports between 2003 and 2023: 2 flash flood, 1 hail, 1 tornado. 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
November 2003HailCompton$3,500,000no account filed
May 2023Tornado (EF0)Compton-A second weak tornado impacted the community of Compton. The short-lived, EF-0, tornado developed near the intersection of Greenleaf Boulevard and South Santa Fe Avenue and moved to the intersection of Orcutt Avenue and East 69th Street. One power line was downed as well as several tree branches. Additionally, minor roof damage was reported to a couple of homes.
November 2003Flash FloodCompton-no account filed
November 2003Flash FloodCompton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Los Angeles 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
East Rancho Dominguez1.3 miles44
Willow Brook1.5 miles47
Lynwood Gardens1.8 miles46
Dominguez Junction2.2 miles47
Morton2.3 miles46
Willowbrook2.4 miles42
Lynwood2.4 miles47
Imperial Courts2.5 miles47

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 ComptonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q487119The 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 1652689. 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.