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Kirkwood, California

32 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1992. It lies in ZIP code area 95646. It stands on Kirkwood Creek. The Survey maps it on the Caples Lake quadrangle. 190 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 7,690 feet above sea level.

Kirkwood within Alpine County

Then and now

1889 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Kirkwood, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Kirkwood, surveyed 1889

Population over time

3 figures

Kirkwood grew from 96 to 190 between 2000 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
200096
2010158+62 (+65%)
2020190+32 (+20%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 32 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

169 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 169 fires within 5 miles of Kirkwood between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,489 acres in total. 86 started naturally. 1 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
Natural86
Recreation and ceremony47
Missing data/not specified/undetermined18
Debris and open burning8
Smoking6
Equipment and vehicle use2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Arson/incendiarism1

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 1999Natural1.5 acresEldorado National ForestFORK
9 September 1999Natural10 acresEldorado National ForestJAKE
7 September 1995Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreEldorado National ForestMARGARET
6 September 2017Naturalunder an acreEldorado National ForestWOODS
5 September 2013Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitROUND
5 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreEldorado National Forestnot named
4 September 1998Naturalunder an acreEldorado National ForestBUTTE
3 September 2010Naturalunder an acreLake Tahoe Basin Management UnitDARDANELLES

Every fire recorded in Alpine County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 4,183 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 4,183 specimens collected within 10 miles of Kirkwood between 1863 and 1975: 3,796 Animalia, 196 Fungi, 181 Plantae, 7 Unrecorded, 3 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. A. Beetle, A. A. Heller, A. Bartel and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Bryanthus breweri A.GrayBryanthus breweri A.Gray1863William H. BrewerWoods Peak, near Carson Pass
Specimen of Calamagrostis breweri Thurb.Calamagrostis breweri Thurb.1863William H. BrewerNear summit of Carson Pass
Specimen of Polygonum davisiae W.H.Brewer ex A.GrayPolygonum davisiae W.H.Brewer ex A.Gray1863William H. BrewerCarson Pass. Near Camp 136
A photograph of the species Loxia curvirostra, not of this specimenLoxia curvirostra bendirei Ridgway, 18841863Collector(s): James Graham Coopersummit, Johnson's Pass, near Lake Tahoe
A photograph of the species Myadestes townsendi, not of this specimenMyadestes townsendi townsendi (Audubon, 1838)1863Collector(s): James Graham CooperJohnson's Pass, Sierra Nevada
A photograph of the species Picoides arcticus, not of this specimenPicoides arcticus (Swainson, 1832)1863Collector(s): James Graham Coopersummit Johnson's Pass
Pinicola enucleator californica Price, 18971863Collector(s): James Graham Coopersummit, Johnson's Pass
A photograph of the species Poecile gambeli, not of this specimenPoecile gambeli abbreviatus1863Collector(s): James Graham Coopersummit, Johnson's Pass
A photograph of the species Rana sierrae, not of this specimenRana sierrae Camp, 19171863Collector(s): Tracy I. Storer, James Graham Coopersummit Johnson's Pass, Sierra Nevada
A photograph of the species Regulus satrapa, not of this specimenRegulus satrapa olivaceus S.F.Baird, 18641863Collector(s): James Graham Coopersummit Johnson's Pass
Specimen of Sambucus melanocarpa A.GraySambucus melanocarpa A.Gray1863William H. BrewerNear summit of Carson Pass
Specimen of Selaginella watsonii Underw.Selaginella watsonii Underw.1863William H. BrewerCarson Pass

All 4,183 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Kirkwood: 4 past producers, 1 prospect, 1 occurrence, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Silver, Copper, Copper, Lead. 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
Round TopGold, Silver, CopperPast Producer
Round TopGold, Copper, LeadProspect
Twin Lakes QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Winnemucca LakeMolybdenumOccurrence
Lost CabinGold, Silver, Copper, LeadPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Pyrite
Lost CabinGold, Silver, Copper, LeadPast Producer
Unidentified MineGoldPast ProducerGold

Every working recorded in Alpine 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
Sorensens10.3 miles31
Shay Creek Summer Home Area12.7 miles28
Woodfords14.3 miles28
Alpine Village14.3 miles28
Marklee Village14.6 miles28
Markleeville15.5 miles28
Cape Horn15.7 miles27
Lake Alpine15.9 miles30

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 KirkwoodAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2171000The 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 262202. 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.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

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.