BlockBefore

Empire, California

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Modesto census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95319. The Survey maps it on the Riverbank quadrangle. 4,202 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 118 feet above sea level.

Empire within Stanislaus County

Then and now

1916 to 1994

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 Empire, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Empire, surveyed 1916

Population over time

2 figures

Empire grew from 4,189 to 4,202 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
20104,189
20204,202+13 (+0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 17 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

732 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 732 fires within 5 miles of Empire between 2005 and 2020, burning about 1,918 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 79 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/undetermined606
Arson/incendiarism79
Equipment and vehicle use14
Misuse of fire by a minor12
Debris and open burning11
Smoking8
Natural2

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 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTuolumne-Calaveras Unitnot named
9 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTuolumne-Calaveras Unitnot named
9 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTuolumne-Calaveras Unitnot named
9 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Stanislaus County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Empire: 4 producers, 3 unknowns, 1 occurrence. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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
TailingsGoldOccurrence
American Sand and GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
C V Skove and J WychopinSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Gravel Products CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Hughson Gravel PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Johnson BrothersSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Plaster Sand Pit & MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Schmidt PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Stanislaus 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
Riverside2.4 miles17
Hughson3.4 miles19
Claus3.5 miles17
Ceres4.2 miles20
Bystrom4.6 miles20
Modesto5.0 miles17
Esmar (historical)5.1 miles20
Shackelford5.1 miles20

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 EmpireAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2471770The 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 1658501. 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.