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Grass Valley, California

28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Grass Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95945. It stands on South Fork Wolf Creek. The Survey maps it on the Grass Valley quadrangle. 14,016 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,411 feet above sea level.

Grass Valley within Nevada County

Then and now

1888 to 1998

The same ground, surveyed 110 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Grass Valley, surveyed 1998
Topographic sheet of Grass Valley, surveyed 1888

On record in Grass Valley

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 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Grass Valley grew from 12,860 to 14,016 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
201012,860
202014,016+1,156 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 28 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

925 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 925 fires within 5 miles of Grass Valley between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,071 acres in total. 13 started naturally. 39 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/undetermined361
Debris and open burning223
Equipment and vehicle use160
Misuse of fire by a minor47
Smoking42
Arson/incendiarism39
Power generation/transmission/distribution26
Natural13
Recreation and ceremony11
Other causes3

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 2019Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitSNMH CRISIS STABILIZATION
9 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionGOLDEN
9 September 2006Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCentral California DistrictTHORNICROFT
9 September 2000Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCentral California DistrictADAMS
9 September 1996Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitCAREY
8 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 1886
7 September 2020Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitHWY 20 / DORSEY DR
7 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitHARD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Nevada County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 987 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 987 workings within 5 miles of Grass Valley: 534 past producers, 337 occurrences, 82 unknowns, 18 producers. 18 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Chromium, Silver, Copper. 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
Berkeley ProspectCopper, Lead, Zinc, Silver, Gold, Antimony, Sulfur, ArsenicPast Producer1904
BrunswickGold, Zinc, Lead, Copper, SilverPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite, Sphalerite
Bullion ConGold, Lead, TungstenPast ProducerGalena, Gold, Pyrite, Scheelite
Canada HillGold, Silver, Copper, Zinc, Lead, Antimony, Arsenic, TinPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite, Sphalerite, Stibnite
Champion Con QtzGold, Silver, Copper, Lead, ZincPast ProducerUnderground
Empire StarGold, Lead, Arsenic, ZincUnknown
Grass Valley DistrictTungsten, GoldProducer1915
Green LodeGold, Lead, SilverPast ProducerUnknown
MountaineerGold, Silver, Lead, Zinc, CopperPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Gold, Pyrite
North StarGold, Stone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence

Every working recorded in Nevada 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
Hills Flat0.5 miles28
Alta Vista Park0.6 miles28
Cypress Hill0.7 miles28
Boston Ravine0.9 miles28
Sunrise Heights1.0 miles28
The Oaks1.1 miles28
Sahl Court1.1 miles28
Ridge View1.1 miles28

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 Grass ValleyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q834337The 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 277525. 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.