BlockBefore

Montara, California

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1947 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Half Moon Bay census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94037. It stands on Martini Creek. The Survey maps it on the Montara Mountain OE W quadrangle. 2,833 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 98 feet above sea level.

Montara within San Mateo County

Then and now

1947 to 1985

The same ground, surveyed 38 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Montara, surveyed 1985
Topographic sheet of Montara, surveyed 1947

On record in Montara

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

Montara fell from 2,909 to 2,833 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
20102,909
20202,833-76 (-3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 15 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

87 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 87 fires within 5 miles of Montara between 1992 and 2020, burning about 45 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 9 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/undetermined50
Arson/incendiarism9
Natural7
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Equipment and vehicle use6
Recreation and ceremony4
Smoking2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Debris and open burning1

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 1999Naturalunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitSCARPER
28 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit5TH ST / EAST AV
28 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitMADRONA AV EL_GRANADA
27 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
26 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionDEVILS SLIDE TUNNEL SOUTH
25 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitAIRPORT ST / LOS BANOS AV
25 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
21 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitCORAL REEF AV EL_GRANADA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Mateo County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Montara: 5 past producers, 3 producers, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Calcium, Gold, Stone, Granite. 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
MiguelGraniteProducer
MiguelStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Deniston PeakGoldPast ProducerGold
Dennison PeakGoldProspect
El GranadaStoneProducer
El GranadaStonePast Producer
Calif. AggregatesCalciumPast Producer
RockawayCalciumProducer
RockawayCalciumPast Producer

Every working recorded in San Mateo County

Storms near this place

1 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Montara in 1 storm report in 2009: 1 heavy rain. The reports record 3 injuries. 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
October 2009Heavy RainMontara3 hurtAt 7:47 a.m. PDT the California Highway Patrol responded to a three car collision on Highway 1 at Devil's Slide. Heavy rain and strong winds were a contributing factor of the crash. A 74-year-old woman lost her life in the accident.

Every storm recorded in San Mateo 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
Moss Beach1.0 miles15
Seal Cove1.6 miles15
Princeton3.0 miles43
San Pedro Terrace3.6 miles15
Pedro Valley3.7 miles43
El Granada3.7 miles43
Shelter Cove3.7 miles15
Linda Mar3.9 miles43

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 MontaraAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2682480The 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 277558. 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.