Independence, California
30 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the Arnold-West Point census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95245. It lies near Two Dollar Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Rail Road Flat quadrangle. It stands 2,628 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1889 to 1993The same ground, surveyed 104 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
13 surveys from 30 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.
- 1889 USGS Jackson quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Jackson quadrangle1:125000
- 1897 USGS Jackson quadrangle1:125000
- 1902 USGS Jackson quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1947 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Mokelumne Hill quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1948 USGS Rail Road Flat quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1948 USGS Railroad Flat quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Railroad Flat quadrangle1:24000
- 1956 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Sacramento quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1993 USGS San Andreas quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
375 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 375 fires within 5 miles of Independence between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,642 acres in total. 12 started naturally. 9 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 131 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 110 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 72 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 13 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 13 |
| Natural | 12 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 9 |
| Smoking | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| 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 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | MAIN |
| 9 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Central California District | LIGHTNING 23 |
| 9 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Central California District | LIGHTNING 29 |
| 8 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | CEDAR WY / JESUS MARIA RD |
| 8 September 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | TAYLOR |
| 6 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | SMITTY |
| 6 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | SEARCY |
| 5 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | SIERRA OAKS DR RAILROAD_ |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 410 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 410 workings within 5 miles of Independence: 188 past producers, 115 occurrences, 96 unknowns, 10 producers. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Lead, Lead, Copper, Chromium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstone | Gold, Lead, Zinc, Copper | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| Blazing Star | Gold, Copper | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Gold, Pyrrhotite | |
| Deposits | Limestone, Dimension | Occurrence | ||
| Fine Gold | Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Gold, Pyrite | |
| Forest Creek | Gold, Lead, Copper, Zinc | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Galena, Marcasite, Pyrite, Pyrrhotite, Sphalerite | |
| Golden Shearer Mine | Gold, Lead, Zinc | Past Producer | Galena, Gold, Pyrite, Sphalerite | |
| Silver Mountain | Gold, Quartz | Occurrence | ||
| Gambetta Deposit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Golden Storm | Gold, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | Gold | |
| Golden Storm | Gold, Copper, Silver | Producer |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rail Road Flat | 0.4 miles | 30 | |
| Wilseyville | 2.1 miles | 28 | |
| Sandy Gulch | 2.4 miles | 28 | |
| Lynn Park Acres | 2.8 miles | 28 | |
| Fuchs | 3.1 miles | 26 | |
| Hams | 3.2 miles | 26 | |
| West Point | 3.5 miles | 28 | |
| Bummerville | 3.6 miles | 28 |
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 Independence | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q6015877 | 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 225841. 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.












