BlockBefore

Lebec, California

25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1995. It lies in ZIP code area 93243. It lies near Bear Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Lebec quadrangle. 1,239 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,481 feet above sea level.

Lebec within Kern County

Then and now

1903 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 92 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Lebec, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Lebec, surveyed 1903

Compare 1903 against another survey:

On record in Lebec

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

Lebec fell from 1,468 to 1,239 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
20101,468
20201,239-229 (-16%)

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

102 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 102 fires within 5 miles of Lebec between 1993 and 2020, burning about 15,029 acres in total. 6 started naturally. 6 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/undetermined58
Equipment and vehicle use19
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Natural6
Arson/incendiarism6
Debris and open burning2
Fireworks1
Other causes1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Smoking1

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
4 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.3 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
3 September 2005Arson/incendiarism2,500 acresLos Padres National ForestGORMAN
27 September 2003Equipment and vehicle use305 acresLos Padres National ForestGORMAN
25 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
24 September 2012Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
23 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0824
21 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreLos Padres National ForestPOLE
18 September 2009Equipment and vehicle use2.5 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

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Lebec: 2 past producers, 2 occurrences, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Clay, Iron. 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
General Portland Inc.Limestone, General, ClayProducer
Lake CastaicIronOccurrence
Lake CastaicIron, TinOccurrence
Cuddy CreekSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Frazier PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

19 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lebec in 19 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 6 debris flow, 4 flood, 3 heavy rain, 3 wildfire. The reports record 1 death. 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
December 1997Heavy RainLebec1 killedIn heavy rain, a car hydroplaned off Interstate-5 near Lebec into a swollen creek adjacent to the road. Before a rescue could be accomplished one of the vehicle's occupants was swept downstream.
June 2003WildfireLebec$1,590,000The Tejon Fire burned 1155 acres in the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County at a cost of $1.59M. One travel trailer was destroyed but no fatalities occurred.
October 2005Flash FloodLebec$25,000no account filed
October 2025FloodLebec-CHP reports rocks in roadway on Southbound Interstate 5 at Fort Tejon Road.
January 2023Debris FlowLebec-California Highway Patrol reported boulders on I-5 south of the Lebec Rest Stop.
February 2023FloodLebec-California Highway Patrol reported rocks up to 3 feet in diameter washed up on Interstate 5 north of Lebec.
August 2023FloodLebec-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on Lebec Rd. from Frazier Mountain Park Rd. to Landfill Rd.
August 2023Debris FlowLebec-California Highway Patrol reported a large rock on Interstate 5 south of Lebec.
August 2023Flash FloodLebec-California Highway Patrol reported a rock slide on southbound Interstate 5 just south of Fort Tejon Rd.
August 2023Flash FloodLebec-California Highway Patrol reported several large rocks washed up on the Frazier Mountain Park onramp onto Interstate 5.
December 2022Debris FlowLebec-California Highway Patrol reported a mudslide at the intersection of Lebec Rd. and Landslide Rd.
March 2019Debris FlowLebec-California Highway Patrol reported rocks in the traffic lanes if Interstate 5 at the intersection of Fort Tejon Rd. near Lebec.
February 2019Debris FlowLebec-California Highway Patrol reported rocks and boulders on northbound Interstate 5 at the #2 turn near Fort Tejon State Park.
February 2017Debris FlowLebec-California Highway Patrol reported 5 to 6 football sized rocks in the southbound lane of Interstate 5 near Lebec.
July 2015Heavy RainLebec-Localized flooding was reported by the California Highway Patrol around Lebec, Ca. This was due in part to heavy rain in the area during the day, with the COOP station in Lebec receiving 1.48 inches of rainfall. However, the area had received some of the most rainfall earlier in the month so very moist antecedent conditions exist as well.
July 2003WildfireLebec-The Pump Fire was fought by Kern County Fire Department and burned 747 acres. Its cost and cause is unknown but no fatalities occurred nor were any structures lost.
July 2003WildfireLebec-The Tejon Fire burned 1155 acres in the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County. See the month of June for further details.
February 2005Heavy RainLebec-no account filed
March 2001FloodLebec-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
Tejon Ranch2.5 miles27
Frazier Park4.4 miles27
Lake of the Woods7.2 miles27
Grapevine7.7 miles25
Pinon Pines Estates9.5 miles29
Wheeler Ridge12.1 miles26
Pine Mountain Club15.1 miles26
Mettler16.3 miles26

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 LebecAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2879536The 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 272011. 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.