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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.

Holy City within Santa Clara County

Then and now

1916 to 1978

The 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 sheet of Holy City, surveyed 1978
Topographic sheet of Holy City, surveyed 1916

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 24 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

330 since 1992

Regional 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/undetermined142
Equipment and vehicle use96
Debris and open burning24
Arson/incendiarism20
Power generation/transmission/distribution12
Smoking12
Recreation and ceremony11
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Other causes2
Natural2

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 2019Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
9 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitLOST
8 September 1995Debris and open burningunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitBURTIS
7 September 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitSUMMIT
6 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionSUMMIT RESTAURANT BURRELL
6 September 1996Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitPG&E #22
5 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitSUNSET
5 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara UnitSUMMIT

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Clara County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
AlmaStoneProspect
Hooker CreekCopper, Gold, SilverOccurrenceMalachite
Hooker CreekCopper, Silver, GoldPast Producer
Jb KingClayUnknown
Douglas RanchCalciumProducer
Douglas RanchCalciumPast Producer
Greenwalls PropertyChromiumProducer
Lexington QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Steinheimer Ranch ProspectChromiumProspect
Unnamed LocationStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence

Every working recorded in Santa Clara County

Storms near this place

5 since 2012

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 2025Thunderstorm WindHoly City-The PG&E station on Mount Umunhum reported a gust of 90 mph.
January 2020HailHoly City-Spotter reported pea sized hail and lightning.
April 2018HailHoly City-Small hail reported this afternoon on Mt. Umunhum.
February 2015Heavy RainHoly 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 2012Heavy RainHoly 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.

Every storm recorded in Santa Clara 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
Chemeketa Park0.4 miles24
Redwood Estates0.4 miles24
Aldercroft Heights0.6 miles24
Lexington Hills0.6 miles24
Lexington (historical)2.8 miles24
Los Gatos4.8 miles24
Rinconada4.9 miles24
Shannon5.3 miles24

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 CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q11026941The 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.