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El Rita, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Tehachapi census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93531. It stands on Water Canyon Creek. The Survey maps it on the Keene quadrangle. It stands 2,694 feet above sea level.

El Rita within Kern County

Then and now

1914 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 78 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of El Rita, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of El Rita, surveyed 1914

Compare 1914 against another survey:

On record in El Rita

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 within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 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

69 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 69 fires within 5 miles of El Rita between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,602 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 1 was 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/undetermined33
Equipment and vehicle use17
Railroad operations and maintenance10
Debris and open burning5
Arson/incendiarism1
Natural1
Smoking1
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 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
3 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCentral California DistrictPICKUP
28 September 2019Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
27 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
18 September 1999Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0488
13 September 1993Equipment and vehicle use75 acresCentral California DistrictKEENE
1 September 2006Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0715
9 August 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 18 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of El Rita: 5 prospects, 5 past producers, 5 occurrences, 2 unknowns. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Mercury, Copper, Tungsten, Gold. 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
Helen-Joyce ProspectCopper, Lead, ZincProspect
Keene DepositLimestone, GeneralPast Producer
King Solomon ProspectZincProspect
Powell MineCopper, Lead, Silver, ZincProspect
Top of the WorldTungsten, AntimonyOccurrenceVein
Top of the World MineAntimonyProspect
Mayflower MineGoldProducer
Oracle ProspectTungstenOccurrence
Oracle ProspectTungstenUnknown
Shoestring ProspectGoldOccurrence

Every working recorded in Kern 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
Woodford0.4 miles27
Keene0.5 miles27
Walong1.7 miles27
Rowen1.9 miles27
Marcel2.8 miles27
Bealville5.3 miles32
Cable5.4 miles27
Bear Valley Springs5.5 miles33

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.

Wikidata item Q5352031The 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 1682592. 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.