BlockBefore

Inyokern, California

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1993. It stands in the East Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93527. The Survey maps it on the Inyokern quadrangle. 988 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,434 feet above sea level.

Inyokern within Kern County

Then and now

1915 to 1993

The same ground, surveyed 78 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Inyokern, surveyed 1993
Topographic sheet of Inyokern, surveyed 1915

On record in Inyokern

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

Inyokern fell from 1,099 to 988 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
20101,099
2020988-111 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 23 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

13 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Inyokern between 2005 and 2016, burning about 7 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None was 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/undetermined8
Equipment and vehicle use2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Natural1
Debris and open burning1

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
5 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.6 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictNONAME
3 September 2005Debris and open burning1.6 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictOWENS
22 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
21 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 1118
19 September 2007Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
3 August 2012Naturalunder an acreCalifornia Desert District178
9 July 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictBOWMAN
4 July 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Inyokern: 5 past producers, 2 unknowns, 1 prospect, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Tungsten, Copper, Antimony. 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
High Peak MineTungsten, CopperPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Pyrite, Scheelite
Tungsten Peak MineTungsten, AntimonyPast Producer
Wilkerson No. 1 ProspectThoriumProspect
Yellow Treasure MineGold, CopperProducer
High Peak MineTungstenPast Producer
Bertrand Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Bowman Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Caltrans #262Sand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Caltrans #264Sand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

6 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Inyokern in 6 storm reports between 1999 and 2017: 2 lightning, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 1 flash 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
September 2017Thunderstorm WindInyokern$10,000Nine trees were reported blown down in Inyokern from a thunderstorm downburst.
July 1999LightningInyokern$5,000Numerous lightning strikes in the vicinity of Inyokern and Ridgecrest. A pole fire resulted as early as 1430 PST from a lightning strike with another report as late as 1510 PST in Ridgecrest.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindInyokern$2,000no account filed
July 2001Flash FloodInyokern-Kern County Fire Department responded to a stranded car at the Buttermilk Acres crossing of Inyokern Road at 1840 PDT. Locally heavy rain had occurred in desert thunderstorm activity with 0.65" reported at Inyokern on the daily report.
June 2006LightningInyokern-no account filed
February 2001FloodInyokern-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Kern 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
China Lake Acres2.6 miles23
Indian Wells3.4 miles23
Leliter (historical)4.5 miles23
Bradys4.8 miles23
Freeman Junction5.7 miles23
Terese (historical)5.8 miles23
Ridgecrest Heights6.8 miles23
Ridgecrest7.7 miles23

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 InyokernAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q256695The 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 243875. 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.