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Mojave, California

28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the East Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93501. The Survey maps it on the Mojave quadrangle. 4,699 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,762 feet above sea level.

Mojave within Kern County

Then and now

1915 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 77 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Mojave, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Mojave, surveyed 1915

Compare 1915 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Mojave grew from 4,238 to 4,699 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
20104,238
20204,699+461 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 28 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

83 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 83 fires within 5 miles of Mojave between 1994 and 2020, burning about 26,934 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 8 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/undetermined45
Equipment and vehicle use8
Arson/incendiarism8
Smoking6
Debris and open burning5
Natural4
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Recreation and ceremony1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
7 September 1994Missing data/not specified/undetermined80 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictSOLIDAD
6 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
18 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
10 September 2011Natural25,577 acresCentral California DistrictCOMMANCHE
10 September 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
10 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0194
9 August 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0177
6 August 2005Naturalunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0172

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 60 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 60 workings within 5 miles of Mojave: 37 past producers, 10 producers, 4 prospects, 4 occurrences. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver, Gold, Silver. 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
Exposed Treasure MineGold, Silver, ManganesePast Producer
Four StarGold, Silver, Lead, CopperPast Producer
Pride of Mojave MineGold, Copper, Lead, Manganese, SilverPast Producer
Silver Queen MineSilicaPast Producer
Soledad Mountain DepositSilver, Gold, Antimony, Lead, CopperPast Producer1894
Unnamed Clay DepositBentonite, Gypsum-AnhydriteProspect
Unnamed Feldspar OccurrenceFeldsparOccurrence
Emerald Queen ProspectUraniumOccurrence
Monarch MineSilver, GoldPast ProducerGold
Tehachapi ClayBentonitePast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

10 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mojave in 10 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 6 flash flood, 2 high wind, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. 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
February 1998Flash FloodMojave$10,000State Highway 14 closed from 4 miles northeast of Mojave to 8 miles northeast of Mojave due to water over the roadway caused by locally heavy rain in the adjacent Tehachapi Mountains. Cache Creek flooded from the Mojave area receiving 2.2" of rain in the previous 2 days on already moist soils.
September 1997Flash FloodMojave$10,000A thunderstorm located just west of Mojave in the early evening hours supported heavy rain that resulted in sheet flow and flash flooding through pockets of houses west of Mojave and west Mojave itself. Water depths reached four feet at the intersection of State Highway 14 and Interstate 58 floating cars. No injuries resulted although several people were caught in high water or washed down streets.
August 2023FloodMojave-Caltrans reported a road closure of SR 14 between SR 58 and SR 178 due to flooding.
June 2019Flash FloodMojave-California Highway Patrol reported water and debris across the roadway near Mojave West Park. A nearby weather stations measured 0.52 inches of rain in 20 minutes.
June 2019Flash FloodMojave-California Highway Patrol reported the roadway flooded with lots of debris in the roadway. A nearby weather station measured 0.59 inches of rainfall in 20 minutes.
September 2007Thunderstorm WindMojave-A damaging wind gust, in association with a severe thunderstorm, was report at the Mojave Spaceport with data from the Edwards Weather System wind tower.
September 2007Flash FloodMojave-Local law enforcement reported Highway 14 flooded in both directions near the intersection of California City Blvd. Flooding was also occurring around the Mojave Airport.
May 2000High WindMojave-Early morning wind was reported at locally at Mojave in the Kern Desert.
May 2000High WindMojave-Localized, gusty wind occurred in the Kern Deserts during the morning hours on the 9th.
July 2005Flash FloodMojave-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
Chaffee1.0 miles28
Sage (historical)1.2 miles28
Reefer City (historical)3.3 miles28
Fram (historical)3.3 miles28
Fleta3.5 miles28
Gold Town (historical)3.5 miles28
Cambio (historical)3.6 miles28
Sanborn5.1 miles30

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 MojaveAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1943133The 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 1652752. 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.