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.
Then and now
1910 to 1981The 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 sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 27 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.
- 1910 USGS Buena Vista Lake quadrangle1:125000
- 1912 USGS Buena Vista Lake quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1932 USGS Gosford quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1942 USGS Bakersfield West quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Gosford quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Gosford quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1978 USGS Gosford quadrangle1:24000
- 1981 USGS Taft quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
57 since 2005Regional 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/undetermined | 39 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 23 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 2 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 17 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 11 September 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.6 acres | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 4 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 11 August 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
3 since 1998Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | Flood | Old River | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding near the intersection Taft Highway and Buena Vista Rd. west of Bakersfield. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Old 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 1998 | Lightning | Old 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. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bannister | 0.5 miles | 27 | |
| Panama | 2.8 miles | 27 | |
| Lakeside | 2.9 miles | 26 | |
| Gosford | 3.2 miles | 27 | |
| Pumpkin Center | 4.0 miles | 27 | |
| Venola | 4.2 miles | 27 | |
| Stevens | 5.4 miles | 28 | |
| Olde Stockdale | 5.4 miles | 27 |
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 River | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q14683560 | 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 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.













