BlockBefore

Olema, California

28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Northwest Marin census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94950. The Survey maps it on the Inverness quadrangle. It stands 69 feet above sea level.

Olema within Marin County

Then and now

1916 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 67 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Olema, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Olema, surveyed 1916

On record in Olema

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 2 records

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 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

45 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 45 fires within 5 miles of Olema between 1992 and 2020, burning about 5,311 acres in total. 5 started naturally. None was 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
Power generation/transmission/distribution12
Equipment and vehicle use8
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6
Natural5
Recreation and ceremony5
Smoking3
Fireworks2
Debris and open burning2
Misuse of fire by a minor2

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 1994Smokingunder an acrePoint Reyes National SeashoreSKIDPAN
26 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.4 acresPoint Reyes National SeashoreSHORELINE
22 September 1999Naturalunder an acrePoint Reyes National SeashoreHAGGERTY
21 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined8.2 acresPoint Reyes National SeashoreDRAKE 2
20 September 1993Power generation/transmission/distribution52 acresGolden Gate National Recreation AreaGENAZZI
11 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMarin County Fire Departmentnot named
10 September 2018Equipment and vehicle use151 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
9 August 1992Fireworks2.2 acresGolden Gate National Recreation AreaOLEMA I

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Marin County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 18 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Olema: 14 occurrences, 2 unknowns, 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Tungsten, Gold, Mercury. 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
Black MountainStoneOccurrence
Fort BakerManganese, GoldOccurrencePsilomelane
Heaton's FlatGold, SilverPast Producer
Mount Tamalpais Cemetery Quarry.Stone, Stone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
Unnamed LocationGemstoneOccurrence
ClaimsMercuryOccurrence
ClaimsMercuryOccurrence
InvernessTungstenOccurrenceScheelite
Inverness RidgeGoldUnknown
Inverness RidgeGoldOccurrence

Every working recorded in Marin County

Storms near this place

5 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Olema in 5 storm reports between 2014 and 2025: 4 flood, 1 flash 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
December 2014Flash FloodOlema$1,000Flooding from Pt. Reyes to Olema on Highway 1. Campground flooded.
December 2025FloodOlema-California Highway 1 was flooded on both sides at Bear Valley Road.
February 2024FloodOlema-Flooding blocked the northbound lanes of California Highway 1 at Bear Valley Road.
February 2019FloodOlema-Flooding along Hwy 1 between Olema and Point Reyes Station.
December 2019FloodOlema-Hwy 1 northbound lane is totally flooded.

Every storm recorded in Marin 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
Tocaloma1.7 miles28
Point Reyes Station2.2 miles28
Jewell2.3 miles23
Inverness Park2.4 miles28
Taylorville (historical)2.6 miles23
Five Brooks3.2 miles28
Irving (historical)3.8 miles23
Bivalve4.1 miles28

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 OlemaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7086339The 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 1659297. 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.