Cowell, California
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Central Contra Costa census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94521. The Survey maps it on the Clayton quadrangle. It stands 259 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1896 to 1989The same ground, surveyed 93 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 27 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 Mt. Diablo quadrangle1:62500
- 1898 USGS Mt. Diablo quadrangle1:62500, 7 printings
- 1943 USGS Mt. Diablo quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Clayton quadrangle1:24000, 9 printings
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1989 USGS Stockton quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
517 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 517 fires within 5 miles of Cowell between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,274 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 84 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 | 228 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 84 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 66 |
| Smoking | 62 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 55 |
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 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 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33 acres | Santa Clara Unit | 3-JUN |
| 8 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | MITCHELL |
| 7 September 2010 | Smoking | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | KIRKER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 62 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 62 workings within 5 miles of Cowell: 25 occurrences, 18 past producers, 9 producers, 6 prospects. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Copper, Silver, Stone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Point | Copper, Mercury | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Clark & Sons | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Cowell | Limestone, Dimension | Unknown | ||
| Cowell Silver Sand Co., Laws | Silica | Producer | Sand | |
| Mt. Diablo Lime Marl Co. | Limestone, General | Occurrence | Sedimentary | |
| Silver Mine | Copper, Manganese, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Mount Zion Chrome | Chromium | Occurrence | Chromite | |
| Mount Zion Copper Company | Copper, Silver, Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Mount. Zion Chrome | Chromium | Prospect | ||
| White Diamond Claim | Silver, Gold | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
1 since 2018Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cowell in 1 storm report in 2018: 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2018 | Hail | Cowell | - | Small hail reported in southern Contra Costa 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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meinert | 2.1 miles | 42 | |
| Four Corners | 2.7 miles | 42 | |
| Concord | 2.8 miles | 42 | |
| Clayton | 3.0 miles | 27 | |
| Bancroft | 3.3 miles | 42 | |
| Hookston | 3.4 miles | 42 | |
| Las Juntas | 3.7 miles | 42 | |
| Pleasant Hill | 3.8 miles | 42 |
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 Cowell | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5179644 | 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 1655932. 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.








