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Half Moon Bay, California

38 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1902 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Half Moon Bay census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94019. It lies near Pilarcitos Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Half Moon Bay quadrangle. 11,795 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 75 feet above sea level.

Half Moon Bay within San Mateo County

Then and now

1902 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 95 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Half Moon Bay, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Half Moon Bay, surveyed 1902

Compare 1902 against another survey:

On record in Half Moon Bay

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 5 records

Population over time

2 figures

Half Moon Bay grew from 11,324 to 11,795 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
201011,324
202011,795+471 (+4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

19 surveys from 38 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

100 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 100 fires within 5 miles of Half Moon Bay between 1994 and 2020, burning about 63 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 3 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 use14
Natural8
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Misuse of fire by a minor5
Debris and open burning3
Arson/incendiarism3
Recreation and ceremony2

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 1999Naturalunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitSCARPER
9 September 1999Naturalunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitPILARCITOS
28 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitMADRONA AV EL_GRANADA
21 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitCORAL REEF AV EL_GRANADA
2 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionSAN MATEO
11 September 2017Naturalunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionMIRAMAR 2-1
10 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitBUNKER
10 September 1999Naturalunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitHIGGINS

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Mateo County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 17 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 17 workings within 5 miles of Half Moon Bay: 10 past producers, 6 producers, 1 unknown. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Calcium, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
MiguelGraniteProducer
MiguelStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Pilarcitos Quarry and Plant No. 138Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
VasquezStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
HilltopCalciumProducer
HilltopCalciumPast Producer
Skyline QuarryCalciumProducer
Skyline QuarryCalciumPast Producer
CanadaStone, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
CanadaStone, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in San Mateo County

Storms near this place

3 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Half Moon Bay in 3 storm reports between 1998 and 2017: 2 hail, 1 tornado. 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
January 2017HailHalf Moon Bay$10Spotter reported pea sized hail in Half Moon Bay. Other reports around San Mateo county as well.
February 1998Tornado (F0)Half Moon Bay-Weak tornado ripped up some trees. Appears it began as a waterspout and moved on shore.
April 2017HailHalf Moon Bay-no account filed

Every storm recorded in San Mateo 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
Miramar2.5 miles38
El Granada3.5 miles43
Purisima (historical)4.2 miles38
Princeton4.2 miles43
Grabtown5.3 miles37
Lobitos5.8 miles38
Seal Cove5.9 miles15
Highlands5.9 miles43

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 Half Moon BayAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q983652The 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 277528. 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.