BlockBefore

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.

Cowell within Contra Costa County

Then and now

1896 to 1989

The 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 sheet of Cowell, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Cowell, surveyed 1896

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 27 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

517 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined228
Arson/incendiarism84
Equipment and vehicle use66
Smoking62
Misuse of fire by a minor55
Debris and open burning12
Recreation and ceremony4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Natural2
Firearms and explosives use1

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 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined33 acresSanta Clara Unit3-JUN
8 September 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionMITCHELL
7 September 2010Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara UnitKIRKER

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Contra Costa County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 62 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Black PointCopper, MercuryOccurrenceVein
Clark & SonsClayProspect
CowellLimestone, DimensionUnknown
Cowell Silver Sand Co., LawsSilicaProducerSand
Mt. Diablo Lime Marl Co.Limestone, GeneralOccurrenceSedimentary
Silver MineCopper, Manganese, SilverPast Producer
Mount Zion ChromeChromiumOccurrenceChromite
Mount Zion Copper CompanyCopper, Silver, GoldOccurrence
Mount. Zion ChromeChromiumProspect
White Diamond ClaimSilver, GoldOccurrence

Every working recorded in Contra Costa County

Storms near this place

1 since 2018

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2018HailCowell-Small hail reported in southern Contra Costa county.

Every storm recorded in 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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Meinert2.1 miles42
Four Corners2.7 miles42
Concord2.8 miles42
Clayton3.0 miles27
Bancroft3.3 miles42
Hookston3.4 miles42
Las Juntas3.7 miles42
Pleasant Hill3.8 miles42

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 CowellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5179644The 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.