BlockBefore

Essex, California

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1942 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Newberry Springs-Baker census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92332. The Survey maps it on the Essex quadrangle. 89 people lived here at the 2005 count. It stands 1,732 feet above sea level.

Essex within San Bernardino County

Then and now

1942 to 1985

The same ground, surveyed 43 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Essex, surveyed 1985
Topographic sheet of Essex, surveyed 1942

Compare 1942 against another survey:

On record in Essex

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

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 18 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

10 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Essex between 1993 and 2006, burning about 220 acres in total. None started naturally. None 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/undetermined5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Smoking1

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
5 September 2000Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictFORD
20 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMojave National PreserveCALTRANS
19 September 1994Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictSPRINGS
13 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undetermined218 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictSBC5693ASSIST 70
6 July 1996Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictESSEX
13 July 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictWATER
8 June 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictSPRINGS
7 May 1993Smokingunder an acreMojave National PreserveBLMASST#2

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Bernardino County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Essex: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
UnnamedGold, SilverPast Producer
Unnamed QuarriesSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in San Bernardino County

Storms near this place

8 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Essex in 8 storm reports between 2013 and 2023: 7 flash flood, 1 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2014Flash FloodEssex$500,000A bridge was washed out on Route 66 southwest of Essex, and mud was over the roads in and around Essex.
August 2016Flash FloodEssex$5,000National Trails Highway and Goffs Road were closed due to flooding with large amounts of debris.
August 2013Flash FloodEssex$5,000Mud covered Essex Road, with several cars stuck in the mud.
May 2023FloodEssex$2,000Minor flooding left sand and debris on the Essex Road off ramp from Interstate 40.
August 2016Flash FloodEssex$2,000Water and debris were in the intersection of Goffs Road and National Trails Highway.
August 2016Flash FloodEssex$1,000Two feet of standing water covered Essex Road. The road was eventually closed from National Trails Highway to Interstate 40.
August 2014Flash FloodEssex$1,000Essex Road was flooded near Interstate 40.
September 2014Flash FloodEssex$1,000Three feet of water crossed National Trails Highway at Essex.

Every storm recorded in San Bernardino 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
Fenner6.7 miles17
Danby8.7 miles17
Goffs16.0 miles18
Chambless19.8 miles16
Cadiz20.5 miles16
Homer20.8 miles14
Archer22.5 miles16
Bannock24.6 miles14

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 EssexAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q5399620The 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 1656508. 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.