BlockBefore

Cottonwood, California

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the Redding census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96022. The Survey maps it on the Cottonwood quadrangle. 6,268 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 433 feet above sea level.

Cottonwood within Shasta County

Then and now

1890 to 1979

The same ground, surveyed 89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Cottonwood, surveyed 1979
Topographic sheet of Cottonwood, surveyed 1890

On record in Cottonwood

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Cottonwood grew from 3,316 to 6,268 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
20103,316
20206,268+2,952 (+89%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 22 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

618 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 618 fires within 5 miles of Cottonwood between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,469 acres in total. 13 started naturally. 58 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/undetermined200
Equipment and vehicle use184
Debris and open burning79
Arson/incendiarism58
Smoking40
Misuse of fire by a minor35
Natural13
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Fireworks1

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 2007Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresShasta-Trinity UnitHAWES RD / KIMBERLY RD
9 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresShasta-Trinity UnitCOTTONWOOD #2
9 September 1996Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreShasta-Trinity UnitPANORAMA
9 September 1992Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresShasta-Trinity UnitRHONDA #2
8 September 2020Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresShasta-Trinity UnitLONG BRANCH DR COTTONWOO
8 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresShasta-Trinity UnitVALLEY
7 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTehama-Glenn UnitANTELOPE
7 September 1992Debris and open burning1.0 acresTehama-Glenn UnitREEDS

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Shasta County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 13 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Cottonwood: 9 producers, 3 occurrences, 1 unknown. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Platinum, Osmium, Iridium. 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
Cottonwood CreekGold, Platinum, Osmium, IridiumProducerStream Placer
Cottonwood CreekGold, PGEUnknown
Dredge TailingsGoldOccurrence
Anderson Creek PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Cottonwood Creek BarSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Cottonwood Creek Pit #1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Cottonwood Creek Pit #2Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Cottonwood Creek Pit #3Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Cottonwood Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Hooker Creek BarSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Shasta County

Storms near this place

10 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cottonwood in 10 storm reports between 2000 and 2023: 7 flood, 2 hail, 1 heavy rain. 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
March 2023FloodCottonwood$30,000California Highway Patrol reported water overflowing the roadway and going into houses at Main Street and Trefoil Lane.
March 2023FloodCottonwood-California Highway Patrol reported substantial flooding across the roadway, leading to the closure of the roadway near Gas Point Road and Park Drive.
March 2023FloodCottonwood-California Highway Patrol reported substantial flooding across the roadway, leading to the closure of the roadway near Gas Point Road and Park Drive.
March 2023FloodCottonwood-California Highway Patrol reported substantial flooding across the roadway, leading to the closure of the roadway near Gas Point Road and Park Drive.
April 2019FloodCottonwood-Gas Point Road off-ramp at Highway 5 South, west bound land reported flooded.
September 2014FloodCottonwood-CHP reported roadway flooding near Panorama Pt. Rd. and Balls Ferry Rd.
March 2009HailCottonwood-CHP reported up to 2 inches of hail covering Interstate 5.
July 2000Heavy RainCottonwood-no account filed
July 2000FloodCottonwood-no account filed
July 2000HailCottonwood-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Shasta 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
Cottonwood Estates0.4 miles22
Anderson4.4 miles22
Balls Ferry Fishing Resort5.1 miles23
El Rio Estates6.0 miles22
Olinda7.8 miles25
Pacheco9.2 miles31
Girvan10.2 miles29
Cloverdale12.0 miles25

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 CottonwoodAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2195685The 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 277493. 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.