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Old River, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Greenfield-Panama census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93311. The Survey maps it on the Gosford quadrangle. 123 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 344 feet above sea level.

Old River within Kern County

Then and now

1910 to 1981

The same ground, surveyed 71 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Old River, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Old River, surveyed 1910

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 27 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

57 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 57 fires within 5 miles of Old River between 2005 and 2020, burning about 91 acres in total. None started naturally. 7 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/undetermined39
Arson/incendiarism7
Equipment and vehicle use6
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Debris and open burning2
Smoking1

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
3 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
23 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
2 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
17 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
11 September 2016Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 August 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.6 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
4 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
11 August 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Old River: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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
Chevron PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
County PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

3 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Old River in 3 storm reports between 1998 and 2021: 2 flood, 1 lightning. 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
December 2021FloodOld River-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding near the intersection Taft Highway and Buena Vista Rd. west of Bakersfield.
March 2019FloodOld River-California Highway Patrol reported the westbound lane of State Route 119 flooded for two miles west of the intersection of Buena Vista Rd.
May 1998LightningOld River-Lightning strike from the continued thunderstorm activity resulting from a closed low just off the Central Calfiornia Coast. Thunderstorms occurred on the 4th and 5th in the Kern County area.

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
Bannister0.5 miles27
Panama2.8 miles27
Lakeside2.9 miles26
Gosford3.2 miles27
Pumpkin Center4.0 miles27
Venola4.2 miles27
Stevens5.4 miles28
Olde Stockdale5.4 miles27

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 Old RiverAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q14683560The 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 1661140. 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.