Gilroy, California
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1917 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the South Santa Clara Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95020. It stands on West Branch Llagas Creek. The Survey maps it on the Gilroy quadrangle. 59,520 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 200 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1917 to 1978The same ground, surveyed 61 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Gilroy
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 11 records
Frank Norris CabinNational Historic Landmark · listed 1966
Christian Church of Gilroylisted 1982
Gilroy Free Librarylisted 1988
Gilroy Southern Pacific Railroad Depotlisted 2019
Highway 152 Tree Rowlisted 2007
Edgar Holloway Houselisted 1982
Live Oak Creamerylisted 1982
Miller Red Barnlisted 2016
Old City Halllisted 1975
Wheeler Hospitallisted 1990- Gilroy Yamato Hot Springslisted 1995
Population over time
2 figuresGilroy grew from 48,821 to 59,520 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 48,821 | |
| 2020 | 59,520 | +10,699 (+22%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 24 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.
- 1917 USGS Morgan Hill quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1939 USGS Morgan Hill quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1941 USGS Morgan Hill quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Gilroy quadrangle1:24000, 7 printings
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Gilroy quadrangle1:24000
- 1978 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
659 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 659 fires within 5 miles of Gilroy between 1992 and 2020, burning about 37,354 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 54 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 | 335 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 183 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 54 |
| Smoking | 28 |
| Debris and open burning | 27 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 17 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | ELAM |
| 9 September 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Santa Clara Unit | CHILDERS |
| 9 September 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | MASTEN #13 |
| 8 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | HOWLSCLAW |
| 8 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | KERN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 11 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Gilroy: 6 past producers, 2 unknowns, 2 producers, 1 prospect. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Mercury, Stone, Dimension. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howson Pit | Stone, Dimension | Unknown | ||
| Rianda | Mercury | Past Producer | Cinnabar | |
| Rianda | Mercury | Past Producer | ||
| Blenda | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Brem Brs. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Howson Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Sand & Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Sand & Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Uvas Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Uvas Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
14 since 2007Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gilroy in 14 storm reports between 2007 and 2024: 7 hail, 5 flood, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 1 death. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2011 | Flood | Gilroy | 1 killed | Heavy rain caused the flood control channel of the Gilroy creek near Forest Street to rise to near capacity. Just before noon firefighters and police arrived at the scene where they pulled a 43-year-old male from the water. His death was determined to be from drowning. |
| April 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Gilroy | $1,000 | A small tornado spun up near Gavilan College in Santa Clara County - about 2 miles southwest of Gilroy. The tornado touched down briefly and damaged an awning on a temporary trailer and tore apart a large tree - including several two-foot wide limbs ripped off at the trunk. |
| April 2024 | Flood | Old Gilroy | - | The right turn lane from Ferguson Road to California Route 152 was flooded. |
| March 2020 | Hail | Gilroy | - | Report of pea-sized hail in Gilroy. |
| March 2020 | Hail | Gilroy | - | Public called in to report pea-sized hail in Gilroy. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Old Gilroy | - | Tree down blocking roadway near Gilroy. |
| February 2018 | Hail | Gilroy | - | Pea sized hail reported near Gilroy. |
| January 2018 | Hail | Gilroy | - | Hail covering hwy 101 in Gilroy in front of the CHP station. |
| January 2018 | Hail | Gilroy | - | Pat Moore called to report his wife was in Gilroy and was getting 3/4 inch hail. |
| January 2017 | Flood | Old Gilroy | - | WB SR152 and Ferguson. Flood water in area. |
| February 2017 | Flood | Old Gilroy | - | Roadway flooded and now closed Frazier Lake Rd on SR152. |
| February 2014 | Flood | Old Gilroy | - | Roadway flooding reported over both lanes of State Road 152 between Canada and Ferguson. |
| October 2012 | Hail | Gilroy | - | At 3:40 PM an employee of the Santa Clara County OES observed a severe thunderstorm that produced large hail at his home. He measured hail from dime to quarter size that produced minor damage to plants around his home. |
| October 2012 | Hail | Gilroy | - | Spotters from the town of Gilroy in Santa Clara County reported that pea sized hail fell during a severe thunderstorm in the area. Hail accumulated up to depths of 2 inches across the area. Minor damage to vegetable plants was observed. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lonoke | 1.5 miles | 24 | |
| Old Gilroy | 2.3 miles | 29 | |
| Carnadero | 2.4 miles | 29 | |
| Nema (historical) | 3.2 miles | 29 | |
| Plantel (historical) | 3.4 miles | 29 | |
| Rucker | 3.6 miles | 24 | |
| Miller | 3.6 miles | 29 | |
| Sawyers Crossing (historical) | 4.2 miles | 29 |
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 Gilroy | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q837097 | 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 277523. 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.









