Durham, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Durham census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95938. The Survey maps it on the Chico quadrangle. 5,834 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 161 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1891 to 1980The 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.


On record in Durham
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
W. W. Durham Houselisted 1992
Population over time
2 figuresDurham grew from 5,518 to 5,834 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 5,518 | |
| 2020 | 5,834 | +316 (+6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 28 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.
- 1891 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000
- 1893 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1912 USGS Durham quadrangle1:31680
- 1948 USGS Chico quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1949 USGS Chico quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1950 USGS Chico quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Chico quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
362 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 362 fires within 5 miles of Durham between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,390 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 14 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 | 132 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 116 |
| Debris and open burning | 65 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 14 |
| Smoking | 11 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Other causes | 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 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Butte Unit | DURHAM |
| 9 September 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Butte Unit | HEGAN |
| 8 September 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Butte Unit | TROXEL RD DRHM |
| 8 September 2011 | Smoking | under an acre | Butte Unit | SOUTH |
| 8 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Butte Unit | MIDWAY1 |
| 8 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Butte Unit | MIDWAY2 |
| 8 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Butte Unit | MIDWAY3 |
| 7 September 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | NEAL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Durham: 3 producers, 3 unknowns, 1 occurrence, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Platinum, PGE. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butte Creek | Gold, Platinum | Producer | 1848, 1949 | |
| Butte Creek | Gold, PGE | Unknown | ||
| Butte Creek Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Chico Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| L L Ultican | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Butte Creek District | Gold | Past Producer | 1849 | |
| Unknown | Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Location | Gold | Unknown |
Storms near this place
7 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Durham in 7 storm reports between 2005 and 2025: 4 flood, 1 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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 2005 | Tornado (F0) | Durham | $10,000 | no account filed |
| February 2025 | Flood | Durham | - | Water was reported to be going over the bridge near Mesa Road and Esquon Road leading to levee and bridge concerns due to heavy rain. |
| December 2025 | Flood | Durham | - | California Highway Patrol reported multiple road closures in the vicinity of Chico from heavy rain. Some highways that were impacted include both northbound and southboune lanes of Highway 99 from Garner to Kiefer. |
| November 2018 | Flash Flood | Durham | - | Flooding caused traffic delays and one hour of road closures on northbound and southbound Highway 99 from Neal Road to Estates Drive in Chico. Sheetflow was reported from heavy rain off of recently burned areas from the Camp Fire. |
| November 2018 | Flood | Durham | - | Heavy rain caused sheet flow from the Camp Fire burn scar, which flooded Highway 99 near Neal Road. |
| November 2018 | Flood | Durham | - | A vehicle was reported stuck in flood waters up to mirrors in about 3.5 feet of water. |
| June 2005 | Hail | Durham | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eskini (historical) | 0.1 miles | 28 | |
| Roble | 1.3 miles | 28 | |
| Esquon | 3.3 miles | 27 | |
| Dayton | 3.8 miles | 28 | |
| Stirling Junction | 4.7 miles | 28 | |
| Barber | 5.1 miles | 28 | |
| Chapmantown | 5.2 miles | 28 | |
| Chico | 6.0 miles | 28 |
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 Durham | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q599922 | 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 277502. 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.









