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Laguna Niguel, California

37 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the South Coast census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92677. It lies near San Juan Canyon. The Survey maps it on the San Juan Capistrano quadrangle. 64,355 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 400 feet above sea level.

Laguna Niguel within Orange County

Then and now

1901 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 82 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Laguna Niguel, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Laguna Niguel, surveyed 1901

Population over time

4 figures

Laguna Niguel grew from 4,644 to 64,355 between 1970 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
19704,644
200061,891
201062,979+1,088 (+2%)
202064,355+1,376 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

15 surveys from 37 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

113 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 113 fires within 5 miles of Laguna Niguel between 1994 and 2020, burning about 300 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 35 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
Arson/incendiarism35
Missing data/not specified/undetermined33
Smoking17
Equipment and vehicle use13
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony2
Debris and open burning1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
6 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined98 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2010Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
22 September 2010Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
13 September 2005Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
12 September 2007Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 August 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named
5 August 2009Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
3 August 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Orange County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Laguna Niguel: 3 producers, 2 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
El Toro DepositLimestone, General, Stone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Capistrano DepositLimestone, GeneralPast Producer
Capistrano PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
San Juan Capistrano PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Trabuco Creek PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Orange 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
South Laguna2.4 miles37
Three Arch Bay2.5 miles32
San Juan Capistrano2.8 miles37
Top of the World3.0 miles44
Aliso Viejo3.1 miles37
Galivan3.7 miles37
Dana Point3.9 miles32
Canyon Acres4.0 miles44

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 Laguna NiguelAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q948086The 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 1660875. 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.