Eureka, California
19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1922 and the latest in 1987. It stands in the Eureka census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95501. It lies near Woodley Island. The Survey maps it on the Eureka quadrangle. 26,512 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 39 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1922 to 1987The same ground, surveyed 65 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Eureka
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 12 of 19 shown
Bank of Eureka Buildinglisted 1982
Carnegie Free Librarylisted 1986
William S. Clark Houselisted 1988
John A. Cottrell Houselisted 2005
Eureka Historic Districtlisted 1991
Eureka Innlisted 1982
Eureka Theatrelisted 2010
First and F Street Buildinglisted 1974
Humboldt Bay Woolen Milllisted 1982
E. Janssen Buildinglisted 1973
George McFarlan Houselisted 1978
Odd Fellows Halllisted 1978
Population over time
3 figuresEureka grew from 612 to 26,512 between 1860 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 612 | |
| 2010 | 27,191 | |
| 2020 | 26,512 | -679 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 19 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.
- 1922 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:62500
- 1933 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:48000
- 1942 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1949 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1951 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1987 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
102 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 102 fires within 5 miles of Eureka between 1992 and 2020, burning about 540 acres in total. 1 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 | 40 |
| Debris and open burning | 16 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 14 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 12 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2010 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 205 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.5 acres | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | GILL |
| 7 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | ELK |
| 7 September 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 5 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | CUTTEN |
| 5 September 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | BEECHWOOD |
| 4 September 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Northern California District | YOUNG |
| 4 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | MCKAY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 12 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Eureka: 4 occurrences, 4 prospects, 2 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Stone, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haw Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Fred Carlson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Haw Quarry | Stone | Occurrence | ||
| Manila Dunes Sand Removal | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone | Occurrence | ||
| Freshwater Slough | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Freshwater Slough | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Loofbourrow | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Thompson Brick Co | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Location | Clay | Prospect | Sedimentary |
Storms near this place
8 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Eureka in 8 storm reports between 1998 and 2022: 5 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2018 | Tornado (EF0) | Eureka | $100 | A waterspout over Humboldt Bay moved inland across Woodley Island. A boat anemometer measured a wind speed of 54 mph associated with the brief tornado. In addition, a fiber glass case snapped on a dock. The path length was estimated to be 200 feet, and the width was approximately 30 yards. |
| December 2022 | Flood | Eureka | - | Minor flooding across Waterfront Drive near the marina in Eureka. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Eureka | - | Roadway flooding at 1656 Union Street in Eureka; near intersection of Union Street and West Church Avenue. |
| December 2002 | Flood | Eureka | - | Small stream flooding occurred in a wide swath across central Humboldt County. |
| December 2002 | Heavy Rain | Eureka | - | Eureka set an all time daily rainfall record of 6.79 inches. Nearby Honeydew reported 11.24 inches. |
| December 2002 | Flood | Eureka | - | Widespread urban and small stream flooding in Eureka and around Humboldt Bay. |
| November 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Eureka | - | no account filed |
| March 1998 | Flood | Eureka | - | 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.
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 Eureka | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q488702 | 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 277605. 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.









