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.
Then and now
1902 to 1983The 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.


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
Hercules Villagelisted 1980
Population over time
2 figuresHercules 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 24,060 | |
| 2020 | 26,016 | +1,956 (+8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 27 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1902 USGS Napa quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1916 USGS Mare Island quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1942 USGS Mare Island quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Mare Island quadrangle1:24000
- 1949 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1951 USGS Mare Island quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Mare Island quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1962 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Napa quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
325 since 1992Regional 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/undetermined | 206 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 59 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 22 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 |
| Smoking | 12 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 7 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 7 September 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | PG&E ALHAMBRA |
| 6 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 30 September 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 30 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinole | Diatomite | Prospect | ||
| Pinole Dohrman, Pawsey | Diatomite | Occurrence | Sedimentary | |
| Diablo | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Diablo | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Prospect | ||
| Mcnear Point Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
2 since 2024Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2024 | Flood | Hercules | $10 | Roadway flooding was reported at Westbound California Highway 4 and Westbound Interstate 80. |
| February 2024 | Flood | Hercules | - | A 6 inch deep puddle in the slow lane of westbound Interstate 80. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Herpoco | 1.0 miles | 27 | |
| Pinole | 1.0 miles | 27 | |
| Gateley | 1.3 miles | 27 | |
| Rodeo | 1.6 miles | 27 | |
| Bayview | 1.7 miles | 27 | |
| Luzon | 2.0 miles | 27 | |
| Bayo Vista | 2.0 miles | 27 | |
| Tara Hills | 2.2 miles | 40 |
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 Hercules | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q948140 | The 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.











