BlockBefore

Lake Forest, California

47 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Irvine-Lake Forest census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92630. It lies near English Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Lake Forest quadrangle. 85,858 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 486 feet above sea level.

Lake Forest within Orange County

Then and now

1901 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Lake Forest, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Lake Forest, surveyed 1901

Compare 1901 against another survey:

On record in Lake Forest

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 within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Population over time

3 figures

Lake Forest grew from 58,707 to 85,858 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
200058,707
201077,264+18,557 (+32%)
202085,858+8,594 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

17 surveys from 47 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

161 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 161 fires within 5 miles of Lake Forest between 1997 and 2020, burning about 657 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 46 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/undetermined63
Arson/incendiarism46
Smoking19
Misuse of fire by a minor13
Equipment and vehicle use12
Natural4
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Debris and open burning1
Recreation and ceremony1

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 2019Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named
28 September 2018Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
28 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
27 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
25 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
20 September 2007Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
2 September 1997Equipment and vehicle use600 acresCleveland National ForestSANTIAGO
13 September 2009Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Orange County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Lake Forest: 5 producers, 4 past producers, 2 occurrences. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Clay, Limestone, General. 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
Aliso ProspectDiatomiteOccurrence
El Toro DepositLimestone, General, Stone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Santa Rosa Lead - ZincLead, ZincOccurrence
Baker Ranch ExtensionStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Califorina NonmetalicsClayProducer
Serrano MineClayPast Producer
Asbury El Toro, Ltd.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
El Toro PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
El Toro PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Orange County

Storms near this place

4 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lake Forest in 4 storm reports between 1993 and 2022: 2 wildfire, 1 tornado, 1 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. 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
January 1993Tornado (F0)Lake Forest1 hurt, $5,000,000A tornado ripped through a residential section, tearing shingles from roofs, uprooting trees and scattering debris over a several block area. There was damage to 31 homes.
July 2022Heavy RainLake Forest-Heavy rain of 0.4 inch along I-5 from San Juan Capistrano to Lake Forest. Small street flooding along freeway on/offramps and local intersections. Several small traffic incidents, slowing traffic along I-5.
September 1998WildfireLake Forest-no account filed
August 1998WildfireLake Forest-no account filed

Every storm 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
Serrano Place0.0 miles47
El Toro0.3 miles47
Laguna Hills2.7 miles37
Foothill Ranch3.1 miles47
Laguna Woods3.2 miles37
Mission Viejo3.4 miles37
Portola Hills3.8 miles47
Rancho Trabuco4.1 miles37

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 Lake ForestAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q752671The 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 1656503. 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.