Holy City, California
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the Lexington Hills census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95033. It lies near Moody Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Los Gatos quadrangle. It stands 1,250 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1916 to 1978The same ground, surveyed 62 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 24 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.
- 1916 USGS New Almaden quadrangle1:48000
- 1919 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:62500
- 1919 USGS New Almaden quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1940 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Los Gatos quadrangle1:24000, 8 printings
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
330 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 330 fires within 5 miles of Holy City between 1992 and 2020, burning about 4,913 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 20 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 | 142 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 96 |
| Debris and open burning | 24 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 20 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 12 |
| Smoking | 12 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 9 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
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 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | not named |
| 9 September 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | LOST |
| 8 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | BURTIS |
| 7 September 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | SUMMIT |
| 6 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | SUMMIT RESTAURANT BURRELL |
| 6 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | PG&E #22 |
| 5 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | SUNSET |
| 5 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | SUMMIT |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Holy City: 3 producers, 2 prospects, 2 occurrences, 2 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Chromium, Calcium, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alma | Stone | Prospect | ||
| Hooker Creek | Copper, Gold, Silver | Occurrence | Malachite | |
| Hooker Creek | Copper, Silver, Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Jb King | Clay | Unknown | ||
| Douglas Ranch | Calcium | Producer | ||
| Douglas Ranch | Calcium | Past Producer | ||
| Greenwalls Property | Chromium | Producer | ||
| Lexington Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Steinheimer Ranch Prospect | Chromium | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Location | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
5 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Holy City in 5 storm reports between 2012 and 2025: 2 heavy rain, 2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Holy City | - | The PG&E station on Mount Umunhum reported a gust of 90 mph. |
| January 2020 | Hail | Holy City | - | Spotter reported pea sized hail and lightning. |
| April 2018 | Hail | Holy City | - | Small hail reported this afternoon on Mt. Umunhum. |
| February 2015 | Heavy Rain | Holy City | - | A gauge on Mt. Umunhum at elevation 2492 measured a 72 hour rainfall total of 10.16 inches. This was the highest reported storm total in Santa Clara County. |
| November 2012 | Heavy Rain | Holy City | - | Observations at 3400 feet elevation measured heavy rainfall. Minor urban and small stream flooding was observed across Santa Clara County due to the heavy rainfall. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemeketa Park | 0.4 miles | 24 | |
| Redwood Estates | 0.4 miles | 24 | |
| Aldercroft Heights | 0.6 miles | 24 | |
| Lexington Hills | 0.6 miles | 24 | |
| Lexington (historical) | 2.8 miles | 24 | |
| Los Gatos | 4.8 miles | 24 | |
| Rinconada | 4.9 miles | 24 | |
| Shannon | 5.3 miles | 24 |
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 Holy City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q11026941 | 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 1658770. 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.










