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.
Then and now
1891 to 1994The 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.


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
Magalia Community Churchlisted 1982
Population over time
2 figuresMagalia 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 11,310 | |
| 2020 | 7,795 | -3,515 (-31%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 24 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1891 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000
- 1893 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Chico quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1953 USGS Paradise quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Chico quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1980 USGS Paradise East quadrangle1:24000
- 1994 USGS Paradise East quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
675 since 1992Regional 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/undetermined | 251 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 106 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 102 |
| Debris and open burning | 97 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 52 |
| Smoking | 25 |
| Natural | 19 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 11 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 8 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Northern California District | NIMSHEW |
| 8 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Northern California District | UNNAMED FIRE 3610 |
| 8 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Northern California District | FLUME |
| 8 September 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Northern California District | RAMBLING |
| 8 September 2001 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Northern California District | STEIFFER |
| 7 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Northern California District | CARNEGIE |
| 7 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Northern California District | PINES |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 109 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral Slide Deposit | Iron, Manganese, Chromium | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Nimshew | Gold, Platinum | Producer | 1848 | |
| S and D | Gold, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Silver Moon | Gold, Copper, Manganese | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Gold | |
| Chico Ocher | Mineral Pigments | Occurrence | Mineral Paint | |
| Chico Ocher | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Ochre No 1 and Ochre No 2 | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Ochre No. 1 and Ochre No. 2 | Mineral Pigments | Occurrence | Mineral Paint | |
| Christian Place | Iron, Chromium | Past Producer | 1943 | |
| Kemen Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
3 since 2023Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2026 | Flood | Magalia | - | California Highway Patrol reported a boulder in the roadway at Skyway Road and Dogtown Road from heavy rain. |
| September 2023 | Flood | Magalia | - | California Highway Patrol reported flooding in the roadway on September 29th, 2023. |
| September 2023 | Heavy Rain | Magalia | - | California Highway Patrol reported mud and debris across both lanes on September 29th, 2023. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paradise Pines | 1.6 miles | 24 | |
| Irish Town | 2.5 miles | 26 | |
| Mineral Slide | 2.9 miles | 24 | |
| Nimshew | 3.1 miles | 24 | |
| Paradise | 4.3 miles | 24 | |
| Helltown | 4.3 miles | 26 | |
| Centerville | 4.4 miles | 26 | |
| DeSabla | 4.4 miles | 24 |
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 Magalia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1883728 | The 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.








