Freshwater, California
21 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 95503. It lies near McCready Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Arcata South quadrangle. It stands 92 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.


Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 21 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 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Arcata South quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1959 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1987 USGS Eureka quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
125 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 125 fires within 5 miles of Freshwater between 1992 and 2020, burning about 278 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 11 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 | 45 |
| Debris and open burning | 32 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 19 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 11 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | WATER |
| 5 September 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | BEECHWOOD |
| 4 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | MCKAY |
| 4 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | HUNSINGER |
| 28 September 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | HUM20 |
| 28 September 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | SHIP |
| 28 September 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | HUM20 2 |
| 28 September 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Humboldt-Del Norte Unit | HUM20 3 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 13 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Freshwater: 5 occurrences, 4 past producers, 2 prospects, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Clay, Limestone, Dimension, Limestone, General. 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 | Occurrence | ||
| Jacoby Creek Deposit | Limestone, General | Occurrence | ||
| Jacoby Creek Deposit | Limestone, General | Prospect | Sedimentary | |
| Jacoby Creek Deposit | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Location | Limestone, Dimension | Occurrence | ||
| Freshwater Slough | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Freshwater Slough | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Thompson Brick Co | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Haw Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
6 since 2022Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Freshwater in 6 storm reports between 2022 and 2025: 6 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | Flood | Freshwater | $30,000 | Freshwater Creek flooded multiple roads, flooded into homes, and flooded most of Freshwater Park. |
| February 2025 | Flood | Freshwater | - | Flooding on Freshwater road and Howard Heights road near Freshwater, Ca.|Lat. 40.76N, Long. -124.07W. |
| January 2025 | Flood | Freshwater | - | Flooding reported at Freshwater Road and Howard Heights Road. Flooding along Howard Heights Road and 1/2 mile west. Lat. 40.76N, Long. -124.07W. |
| December 2025 | Flood | Freshwater | - | Freshwater Creek flooded across Howard Heights Road and adjacent fields. Start and end times of the flooding are uncertain. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Freshwater | - | Howard Heights Road flooded at Freshwater Road. |
| December 2022 | Flood | Freshwater | - | Flood waters across Howard Heights Road. Road along Freshwater Creek was not passable. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eddyville (historical) | 1.5 miles | 21 | |
| Freshwater Corners | 2.1 miles | 21 | |
| The Springs | 2.9 miles | 21 | |
| Kneeland | 3.5 miles | 14 | |
| Indianola | 3.7 miles | 21 | |
| Myrtletown | 4.1 miles | 19 | |
| Brainard | 4.3 miles | 21 | |
| Cutten | 4.3 miles | 19 |
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 Q5503090 | 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 1658588. 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.









