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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.

Freshwater within Humboldt County

Then and now

1922 to 1987

The 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 sheet of Freshwater, surveyed 1987
Topographic sheet of Freshwater, surveyed 1922

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 21 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

125 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined45
Debris and open burning32
Equipment and vehicle use19
Arson/incendiarism11
Recreation and ceremony9
Smoking4
Natural3
Misuse of fire by a minor2

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 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionWATER
5 September 1992Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitBEECHWOOD
4 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitMCKAY
4 September 1996Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitHUNSINGER
28 September 2012Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitHUM20
28 September 2012Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitSHIP
28 September 2012Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitHUM20 2
28 September 2012Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitHUM20 3

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Humboldt County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 13 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Haw QuarryStoneOccurrence
Jacoby Creek DepositLimestone, GeneralOccurrence
Jacoby Creek DepositLimestone, GeneralProspectSedimentary
Jacoby Creek DepositLimestone, DimensionPast Producer
QuarryStonePast Producer
Unnamed LocationLimestone, DimensionOccurrence
Freshwater SloughClayOccurrence
Freshwater SloughClayProspect
Thompson Brick CoClayPast Producer
Haw QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Humboldt County

Storms near this place

6 since 2022

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2025FloodFreshwater$30,000Freshwater Creek flooded multiple roads, flooded into homes, and flooded most of Freshwater Park.
February 2025FloodFreshwater-Flooding on Freshwater road and Howard Heights road near Freshwater, Ca.|Lat. 40.76N, Long. -124.07W.
January 2025FloodFreshwater-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 2025FloodFreshwater-Freshwater Creek flooded across Howard Heights Road and adjacent fields. Start and end times of the flooding are uncertain.
January 2023FloodFreshwater-Howard Heights Road flooded at Freshwater Road.
December 2022FloodFreshwater-Flood waters across Howard Heights Road. Road along Freshwater Creek was not passable.

Every storm recorded in Humboldt 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
Eddyville (historical)1.5 miles21
Freshwater Corners2.1 miles21
The Springs2.9 miles21
Kneeland3.5 miles14
Indianola3.7 miles21
Myrtletown4.1 miles19
Brainard4.3 miles21
Cutten4.3 miles19

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 Q5503090The 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.