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Goleta, California

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1942 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Santa Barbara census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93117. It stands on Las Vegas Creek. The Survey maps it on the Goleta quadrangle. 32,690 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 20 feet above sea level.

Goleta within Santa Barbara County

Then and now

1942 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 53 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Goleta, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Goleta, surveyed 1942

On record in Goleta

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Goleta grew from 29,888 to 32,690 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
201029,888
202032,690+2,802 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 22 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

102 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 102 fires within 5 miles of Goleta between 1992 and 2020, burning about 14,861 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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/undetermined60
Equipment and vehicle use25
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Debris and open burning5
Arson/incendiarism2
Recreation and ceremony2
Fireworks1
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
8 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSanta Barbara County Fire Departmentnot named
6 September 2011Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreLos Padres National ForestGAP
30 September 2017Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreLos Padres National ForestTROUT
29 September 2001Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Padres National ForestPEDRO
28 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Padres National ForestWINDY
25 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined2,000 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
22 September 2013Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreLos Padres National ForestVAN
13 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Padres National ForestWINDY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Barbara County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Goleta: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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
San Marcos Pass QuarryStone, DimensionPast Producer
Ellwood Ranch QuarrySand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Santa Barbara PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Santa Barbara County

Storms near this place

7 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Goleta in 7 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 3 flash flood, 2 flood, 2 debris flow. 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
January 2026Flash FloodGoleta1 killedHeavy rainfall generated flash flooding from Maria Ygnacio Creek. One man was swept down the creek and drowned. His body was found in the creek near the intersection of San Marcos Road and Via Parva.
February 2024Debris FlowGoleta-Heavy rainfall resulted in a mudslide across Turnpike Road near Cathedral Oaks Road.
March 2024Debris FlowGoleta-California Highway Patrol reported a large boulder across Highway 154 near Painted Cave Road.
January 2023Flash FloodGoleta-Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding along Highway 46 near Painted Cave Road. The flash flooding resulted in a mudslide across the roadway.
January 2001FloodGoleta-no account filed
February 2000Flash FloodGoleta-no account filed
March 1998FloodGoleta-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Santa Barbara 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
La Patera0.8 miles22
Coromar2.1 miles22
Isla Vista2.4 miles22
El Encano Heights3.0 miles24
El Sueno3.0 miles22
Hope Ranch3.2 miles22
Ellwood3.2 miles24
Irma4.0 miles22

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 GoletaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q983840The 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 1660687. 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.