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Hercules, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1902 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the West Contra Costa census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94547. It lies near Refugio Valley. The Survey maps it on the Mare Island quadrangle. 26,016 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 79 feet above sea level.

Hercules within Contra Costa County

Then and now

1902 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 81 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Hercules, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Hercules, surveyed 1902

On record in Hercules

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Hercules grew from 24,060 to 26,016 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
201024,060
202026,016+1,956 (+8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 27 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

325 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 325 fires within 5 miles of Hercules between 1992 and 2020, burning about 800 acres in total. None started naturally. 59 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/undetermined206
Arson/incendiarism59
Equipment and vehicle use22
Misuse of fire by a minor15
Smoking12
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Debris and open burning4
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Fireworks1

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 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
7 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
7 September 1995Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresSanta Clara UnitPG&E ALHAMBRA
6 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
30 September 2008Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
30 September 2005Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Contra Costa County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Hercules: 3 occurrences, 2 prospects. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Diatomite. 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
PinoleDiatomiteProspect
Pinole Dohrman, PawseyDiatomiteOccurrenceSedimentary
DiabloStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
DiabloStone, Crushed/BrokenProspect
Mcnear Point QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence

Every working recorded in Contra Costa County

Storms near this place

2 since 2024

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hercules in 2 storm reports in 2024: 2 flood. 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
April 2024FloodHercules$10Roadway flooding was reported at Westbound California Highway 4 and Westbound Interstate 80.
February 2024FloodHercules-A 6 inch deep puddle in the slow lane of westbound Interstate 80.

Every storm recorded in Contra Costa 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
Herpoco1.0 miles27
Pinole1.0 miles27
Gateley1.3 miles27
Rodeo1.6 miles27
Bayview1.7 miles27
Luzon2.0 miles27
Bayo Vista2.0 miles27
Tara Hills2.2 miles40

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 HerculesAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q948140The 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 1658738. 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.