BlockBefore

Forestville, California

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Russian River-Sonoma Coast census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95436. It lies near Vine Hill. The Survey maps it on the Camp Meeker quadrangle. 3,264 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 171 feet above sea level.

Forestville within Sonoma County

Then and now

1935 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 60 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Forestville, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Forestville, surveyed 1935

Compare 1935 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Forestville fell from 3,293 to 3,264 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
20103,293
20203,264-29 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 20 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

257 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 257 fires within 5 miles of Forestville between 1992 and 2020, burning about 202 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 19 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/undetermined102
Equipment and vehicle use62
Debris and open burning36
Arson/incendiarism19
Misuse of fire by a minor11
Power generation/transmission/distribution10
Recreation and ceremony8
Smoking5
Natural3
Other causes1

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 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitSUNSET
8 September 2014Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitONE SIXTEEN
7 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined40 acresSonoma-Lake Napa Unitnot named
7 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionMARTINELLI RD / RIVER RD
7 September 1992Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitWESTSIDE
7 September 1992Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitEASTSIDE
6 September 1995Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitGRATON
5 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitGREEN #3

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sonoma County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 42 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 42 workings within 5 miles of Forestville: 15 occurrences, 15 unknowns, 9 producers, 3 past producers. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Chromium, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Mercury. 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
Blue Rock Pit and MillStone, DimensionUnknown
Rowan DepositManganeseOccurrence
Unnamed LocationGarnetUnknown
Unnamed ProspectGoldOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectIronOccurrence
Wall TractCopper, MercuryOccurrenceVein
ArcherCopperPast ProducerVein
Archer TractCopperUnknown
Unnamed LocationCopperOccurrence
Burl Howell QuarryStoneUnknown

Every working recorded in Sonoma County

Storms near this place

5 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Forestville in 5 storm reports between 2017 and 2024: 5 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
January 2024FloodForestville$10Westbound California Route 116 at Travis Road was reported flooded across all lanes.
February 2019FloodForestville-Water moving fast across roadway Sr 116 at Covey Rd.
February 2019FloodForestville-Green Valley Creek near Forestville has flooded SR-116 between Martinelli Rd and Giovanetti Rd.
February 2019FloodForestville-CHP reports roadway flooding at Hwy 116 and Packing House Rd, one vehicle stuck in water.
January 2017FloodForestville-Greenvalley Creek flooding across all lanes of Hwy 116 at junction of Travis Rd.

Every storm recorded in Sonoma 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
Harbine (historical)0.7 miles20
Ross1.1 miles20
Mirabel Heights1.2 miles20
Lacresta (historical)1.3 miles20
Mirabel Park1.4 miles20
Williams (historical)1.7 miles20
Rio Dell2.0 miles20
Trenton2.2 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 ForestvilleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1437250The 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 1658564. 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.