BlockBefore

Gorda, California

29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1921 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the San Ardo census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93920. It stands on Prewitt Creek. The Survey maps it on the Cape San Martin quadrangle. It stands 148 feet above sea level.

Gorda within Monterey County

Then and now

1921 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 74 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Gorda, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Gorda, surveyed 1921

Compare 1921 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 29 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

50 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 50 fires within 5 miles of Gorda between 1992 and 2020, burning about 33,012 acres in total. 4 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/undetermined15
Recreation and ceremony11
Debris and open burning7
Equipment and vehicle use7
Natural4
Smoking2
Arson/incendiarism2
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
9 September 1996Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLos Padres National ForestJADE
8 September 1999Natural344 acresLos Padres National ForestKIRK
4 September 2000Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLos Padres National ForestWILLOW
30 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined617 acresVandenberg Air Force Base Fire DepartmentHIGHWAY
7 August 2015Naturalunder an acreLos Padres National ForestWILLOW
30 August 2007Naturalunder an acreLos Padres National ForestWILDCATTLE
30 August 1995Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Padres National ForestPACIFIC
3 August 1992Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLos Padres National ForestFLAT

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Monterey County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 26 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 26 workings within 5 miles of Gorda: 11 past producers, 8 prospects, 4 occurrences, 3 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Mercury, Silver, Chromium. 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
Cape San MartinSemiprecious GemstoneProspect
Stonewall ClaimGold, LeadOccurrence
Treasure ChestChromiumPast Producer
Willow Creek ProspectsAsbestosOccurrence
GordaGold, SilverPast Producer
Monte Cristo GroupMercuryOccurrence
Monte Cristo GroupMercuryUnknown
Plaskette MineGold, SilverPast Producer
Ancona MineGoldProspect
Bauman ClaimsGoldPast Producer

Every working recorded in Monterey County

Storms near this place

6 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gorda in 6 storm reports between 2015 and 2019: 4 debris flow, 2 heavy rain. 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
May 2017Debris FlowGorda$10,000,000Heavy winter rain caused a deep rooted debris flow to occur that covered highway 1. This slide has no estimated time for removal and has damage estimates well in to the millions.|http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/31/big-sur-coast-has-grown-13-acres-from-new-landslide/. https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-05-23/massive-slide-covers-stretch-of-iconic-california-highway.
December 2019Debris FlowGorda-CHP reporting mud/dirt/rock along CA Hwy 1 near Limekiln Campground. Reports of full closure of northbound and southbound traffic for another hour or so.
March 2018Debris FlowGorda-Highway 1 closed due to mudslide at Limekiln State Park.
November 2018Debris FlowGorda-Active slide being reported just north of Willow Creek Bridge. Hwy 1 will be closed.
February 2015Heavy RainGorda-Monterey County ALERT gauge on Three Peaks at Elevation 3362 feet measured a 72 hour rainfall total of 10.40 inches.
February 2015Heavy RainGorda-Monterey County ALERT gauge on Chalk Peak at Elevation 3432 feet measured a 72 hour rainfall total of 8.31 inches.

Every storm recorded in Monterey 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
Plaskett1.1 miles29
Sans (historical)7.4 miles32
Lucia7.5 miles24
Hunter-Liggett13.3 miles25
Jolon15.7 miles24
Slates Hot Springs15.9 miles19
Martinus Corner18.5 miles25
Lockwood20.5 miles25

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 GordaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3475150The 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 271364. 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.