BlockBefore

Magalia, California

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Paradise census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95954. It stands on Rattlesnake Creek. The Survey maps it on the Paradise East quadrangle. 7,795 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,333 feet above sea level.

Magalia within Butte County

Then and now

1891 to 1994

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 Magalia, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Magalia, surveyed 1891

Compare 1891 against another survey:

On record in Magalia

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

Magalia fell from 11,310 to 7,795 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
201011,310
20207,795-3,515 (-31%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 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

675 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 675 fires within 5 miles of Magalia between 1992 and 2020, burning about 9,062 acres in total. 19 started naturally. 102 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/undetermined251
Equipment and vehicle use106
Arson/incendiarism102
Debris and open burning97
Misuse of fire by a minor52
Smoking25
Natural19
Power generation/transmission/distribution11
Recreation and ceremony8
Fireworks2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
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 2009Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
9 September 2002Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresNorthern California DistrictNIMSHEW
8 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNorthern California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 3610
8 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresNorthern California DistrictFLUME
8 September 2002Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNorthern California DistrictRAMBLING
8 September 2001Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreNorthern California DistrictSTEIFFER
7 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNorthern California DistrictCARNEGIE
7 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreNorthern California DistrictPINES

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Butte County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 109 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 109 workings within 5 miles of Magalia: 46 past producers, 28 occurrences, 27 unknowns, 8 producers. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Chromium, Silver, 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
Mineral Slide DepositIron, Manganese, ChromiumOccurrenceVein
NimshewGold, PlatinumProducer1848
S and DGold, Copper, SilverPast Producer
Silver MoonGold, Copper, ManganesePast ProducerChalcopyrite, Gold
Chico OcherMineral PigmentsOccurrenceMineral Paint
Chico OcherStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Ochre No 1 and Ochre No 2Stone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Ochre No. 1 and Ochre No. 2Mineral PigmentsOccurrenceMineral Paint
Christian PlaceIron, ChromiumPast Producer1943
Kemen Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Butte County

Storms near this place

3 since 2023

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Magalia in 3 storm reports between 2023 and 2026: 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 2026FloodMagalia-California Highway Patrol reported a boulder in the roadway at Skyway Road and Dogtown Road from heavy rain.
September 2023FloodMagalia-California Highway Patrol reported flooding in the roadway on September 29th, 2023.
September 2023Heavy RainMagalia-California Highway Patrol reported mud and debris across both lanes on September 29th, 2023.

Every storm recorded in Butte 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
Paradise Pines1.6 miles24
Irish Town2.5 miles26
Mineral Slide2.9 miles24
Nimshew3.1 miles24
Paradise4.3 miles24
Helltown4.3 miles26
Centerville4.4 miles26
DeSabla4.4 miles24

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 MagaliaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1883728The 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 1659035. 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.