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Kernville, California

25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Lake Isabella census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93238. It lies near Noyer Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Kernville quadrangle. 1,549 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,667 feet above sea level.

Kernville within Kern County

Then and now

1906 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 80 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Kernville, surveyed 1986
Topographic sheet of Kernville, surveyed 1906

Compare 1906 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Kernville grew from 1,395 to 1,549 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
20101,395
20201,549+154 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 25 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

262 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 262 fires within 5 miles of Kernville between 1992 and 2020, burning about 30,745 acres in total. 19 started naturally. 10 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/undetermined113
Recreation and ceremony30
Equipment and vehicle use25
Misuse of fire by a minor24
Debris and open burning21
Natural19
Arson/incendiarism10
Smoking9
Fireworks5
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Other causes1

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 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSequoia National ForestFALLING WATERS
9 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSequoia National ForestHUT
9 September 2000Smokingunder an acreSequoia National ForestPOWER
8 September 2009Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
7 September 1996Misuse of fire by a minor8.0 acresSequoia National ForestTERRACE
5 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSequoia National ForestHALFWAY
3 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 36 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 36 workings within 5 miles of Kernville: 16 past producers, 8 occurrences, 5 prospects, 4 unknowns. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Tungsten, Gold, Bismuth, Silver, Gold. 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
Big Blue GroupGold, Silver, Copper, LeadProducer
Big Blue GroupGold, Silver, Lead, CopperPast Producer
Big Blue MineTungsten, GoldProducerGold, Scheelite
CoveSilver, GoldPast Producer1860
Kern MinesGold, BismuthOccurrence
Kern Rock Co. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Los Tres Burros No. 1UraniumUnknown
Onyx # 1 & 2GemstoneProspect
Thunderbird MillsiteGold, Copper, SilverProspect
Tip-Top Lead-Zinc PropertyLead, ZincProspect

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

10 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kernville in 10 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 7 flood, 2 debris flow, 1 hail. 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 2011FloodKernville$25,000Highway Patrol reported street flooding in Kernville.
January 2023FloodKernville-Public report of multiple rocks in the roadway at the intersection of Kern River Dr. and Burlando Rd. in Kernville.
January 2023FloodKernville-California Highway Patrol reported a rockslide with golfball to football sized boulders near Kernville Rd. and Kern River Dr.
January 2023FloodKernville-Public report of large amount of rocks on the roadway at the intersection of Burlando Rd. and Kern River Dr.
March 2023FloodKernville-Social media report of flooding of the Kern River in Kernville.
March 2023FloodKernville-Social media report showing Riverside Park in Kernville flooded.
January 2019Debris FlowKernville-California Highway Patrol reported mud, dirt and rocks effecting Burlando Road and Kern River Dr. in Kernville.
March 2019Debris FlowKernville-California Highway Patrol reported a rock slide in the area of Burlando Rd. and Kernville Rd. in Kernville.
January 2017FloodKernville-Broadcast Media reported through twitter a picture of Kern River Overflowing near Kernville.
September 1997HailKernville-No damage reported and hail size estimated due to WSR-88D algorithms and public reports of coverage area.

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
Camp Owens1.0 miles25
Riverkern2.7 miles25
Kernville (historical)2.9 miles28
Wofford Heights3.7 miles28
Alta Sierra6.8 miles25
Isabella (historical)7.1 miles28
Shirley Meadows7.6 miles25
Mountain Mesa8.0 miles28

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 KernvilleAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3028509The 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 1660834. 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.