BlockBefore

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.

Gilroy within Santa Clara County

Then and now

1917 to 1978

The 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.

Topographic sheet of Gilroy, surveyed 1978
Topographic sheet of Gilroy, surveyed 1917

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

Population over time

2 figures

Gilroy 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.

YearPeople Change
201048,821
202059,520+10,699 (+22%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 24 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

659 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined335
Equipment and vehicle use183
Arson/incendiarism54
Smoking28
Debris and open burning27
Misuse of fire by a minor17
Power generation/transmission/distribution10
Recreation and ceremony4
Natural1

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 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
9 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSanta Clara UnitELAM
9 September 1995Missing data/not specified/undetermined10 acresSanta Clara UnitCHILDERS
9 September 1993Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresSanta Clara UnitMASTEN #13
8 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2012Debris and open burningunder an acreSanta Clara UnitHOWLSCLAW
8 September 2011Equipment and vehicle use6.0 acresSanta Clara UnitKERN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Clara County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Howson PitStone, DimensionUnknown
RiandaMercuryPast ProducerCinnabar
RiandaMercuryPast Producer
BlendaSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Brem Brs.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProspect
Howson MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Uvas PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Uvas PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Santa Clara County

Storms near this place

14 since 2007

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2011FloodGilroy1 killedHeavy 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 2007Tornado (EF0)Gilroy$1,000A 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 2024FloodOld Gilroy-The right turn lane from Ferguson Road to California Route 152 was flooded.
March 2020HailGilroy-Report of pea-sized hail in Gilroy.
March 2020HailGilroy-Public called in to report pea-sized hail in Gilroy.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindOld Gilroy-Tree down blocking roadway near Gilroy.
February 2018HailGilroy-Pea sized hail reported near Gilroy.
January 2018HailGilroy-Hail covering hwy 101 in Gilroy in front of the CHP station.
January 2018HailGilroy-Pat Moore called to report his wife was in Gilroy and was getting 3/4 inch hail.
January 2017FloodOld Gilroy-WB SR152 and Ferguson. Flood water in area.
February 2017FloodOld Gilroy-Roadway flooded and now closed Frazier Lake Rd on SR152.
February 2014FloodOld Gilroy-Roadway flooding reported over both lanes of State Road 152 between Canada and Ferguson.
October 2012HailGilroy-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 2012HailGilroy-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.

Every storm recorded in Santa Clara 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
Lonoke1.5 miles24
Old Gilroy2.3 miles29
Carnadero2.4 miles29
Nema (historical)3.2 miles29
Plantel (historical)3.4 miles29
Rucker3.6 miles24
Miller3.6 miles29
Sawyers Crossing (historical)4.2 miles29

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 GilroyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q837097The 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.