North Columbia, California
33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 2000. It stands in the Nevada City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95959. It lies near Sugarloaf Peak. The Survey maps it on the North Bloomfield quadrangle. It stands 3,015 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1891 to 2000The same ground, surveyed 109 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 33 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 Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1898 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1902 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1938 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1949 USGS North Bloomfield quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1950 USGS Alleghany quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1951 USGS North Bloomfield quadrangle1:24000
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1977 USGS Truckee quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 2000 USGS North Bloomfield quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
234 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 234 fires within 5 miles of North Columbia between 1992 and 2020, burning about 228 acres in total. 11 started naturally. 17 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 | 74 |
| Debris and open burning | 60 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 41 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 17 |
| Natural | 11 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Smoking | 6 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5 |
| 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 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | BYRON |
| 7 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 acres | Central California District | PURDON |
| 5 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9.0 acres | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | CANYON |
| 4 September 2004 | Smoking | under an acre | Central California District | SHADY |
| 30 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 28 September 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Tahoe National Forest | KANAKA |
| 23 September 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | SAGES |
| 22 September 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | COUGHLAN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 194 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 194 workings within 5 miles of North Columbia: 81 occurrences, 58 past producers, 49 unknowns, 5 producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Platinum, Silver, Copper. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | Gold, Silver | |
| Edison | Copper, Gold | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Enterprise Qtz | Gold, Zinc, Lead, Copper | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Sphalerite | |
| Grizzley Ridge | Gold, Silver, Copper | Past Producer | Surface/Underground | |
| Paine Bros | Gold, Iron, Manganese | Prospect | ||
| Paine Brs. | Gold, Manganese, Iron | Past Producer | Gold, Hematite, Psilomelane, Rhodonite | |
| Trood Mine | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| West Delhi | Gold, Arsenic | Past Producer | Underground | |
| Edison | Copper | Unknown | ||
| Grizzley Ridge Claim | Gold, Copper | Occurrence |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Badger Hill (historical) | 2.2 miles | 27 | |
| Lake City | 2.6 miles | 33 | |
| Cherokee | 3.0 miles | 28 | |
| Malakoff (historical) | 3.6 miles | 33 | |
| Blue Tent | 4.4 miles | 33 | |
| North Bloomfield | 4.7 miles | 33 | |
| North San Juan | 6.2 miles | 28 | |
| Shelby Flat (historical) | 6.2 miles | 28 |
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 North Columbia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7054894 | 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 264127. 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.













