BlockBefore

Los Gatos, California

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the San Jose census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95030. It lies near Saint Josephs Hill. The Survey maps it on the Los Gatos quadrangle. 33,529 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 344 feet above sea level.

Los Gatos within Santa Clara County

Then and now

1916 to 1978

The same ground, surveyed 62 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Los Gatos, surveyed 1978
Topographic sheet of Los Gatos, surveyed 1916

On record in Los Gatos

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 4 records

Population over time

3 figures

Los Gatos grew from 26,906 to 33,529 between 1980 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
198026,906
201029,413
202033,529+4,116 (+14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 24 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

256 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 256 fires within 5 miles of Los Gatos between 1992 and 2020, burning about 143 acres in total. None started naturally. 26 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/undetermined133
Equipment and vehicle use51
Arson/incendiarism26
Smoking17
Misuse of fire by a minor12
Power generation/transmission/distribution10
Debris and open burning4
Recreation and ceremony2
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 2019Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
9 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2000Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSanta Clara UnitFEE
30 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
29 September 2019Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
28 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
27 September 1997Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara UnitSCENIC VISTA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Clara County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 25 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 25 workings within 5 miles of Los Gatos: 11 past producers, 8 producers, 3 prospects, 2 occurrences. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Mercury, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Hooker CreekCopper, Gold, SilverOccurrenceMalachite
Hooker CreekCopper, Silver, GoldPast Producer
John Knorr MineStone, DimensionUnknown
Greenwalls PropertyChromiumProducer
Steinheimer Ranch ProspectChromiumProspect
AlmaStoneProspect
Douglas RanchCalciumProducer
Douglas RanchCalciumPast Producer
Guadalupe Lime Co.CalciumProducer
Guadalupe Lime Co.CalciumPast Producer

Every working recorded in Santa Clara County

Storms near this place

15 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Los Gatos in 15 storm reports between 2002 and 2020: 5 debris flow, 4 hail, 2 flood, 1 heavy rain. 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
January 2017HailLos Gatos$5,000,000Damage dollar amounts is a low estimate. Impacts are not fully known, but any individual car crash would likely exceed this amount.
January 2017HailLos Gatos$10no account filed
March 2020HailLos Gatos-Spotter reported small hail in Los Gatos.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindLos Gatos-Los Gatos station reported.
January 2019Debris FlowLos Gatos-Mud slide reported at Cats/Lexington south side on Hwy 17.
November 2018FloodLos Gatos-Roadway flooding reported at Daves Avenue and SR9.
January 2017Flash FloodLos Gatos-Los Gatos Creek flooding.
January 2017Funnel CloudLos Gatos-Video of brief funnel cloud submitted via social media. Location and timing are approximate from radar.
February 2017Debris FlowLos Gatos-Mud and rocks blocking Limekin Canyon Rd at Soda Springs Rd.
February 2017Debris FlowLos Gatos-Highway 17 southbound shut down due to rock slide just north of Lexington Reservoir.
February 2017Debris FlowLos Gatos-Mud slide reported at 18500 Limekiln Canyon Road.
February 2017Debris FlowLos Gatos-Rock slide, trees down at SR9 and Serramonte off ramp.
January 2010FloodLos Gatos-State Highway 17 was closed for about three hours due to flooding.
March 2017HailLos Gatos-no account filed
December 2002Heavy RainLos Gatos-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Santa Clara 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
Rinconada0.4 miles24
Shannon0.7 miles24
Monte Sereno1.2 miles24
Austin1.7 miles24
Vasona Junction2.2 miles28
Lexington (historical)2.2 miles24
San Tomas2.9 miles28
Cambrian Park3.1 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 Los GatosAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q747509The 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 1659017. 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.