Pala, California

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

1901 1997

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.

• 1901 USGS San Luis Rey quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
• 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 2 quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
• 1942 USGS Temecula quadrangle1:62500
• 1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
• 1949 USGS Pala quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
• 1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
• 1950 USGS Pala quadrangle1:24000
• 1956 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
• 1959 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
• 1960 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
• 1965 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
• 1968 USGS Pala quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
• 1982 USGS Oceanside quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
• 1997 USGS Pala quadrangle1:24000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 303 fires within 5 miles of Pala between 1992 and 2020, burning about 11,948 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 31 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.

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

• Pala Mesa
• Rainbow
• Lilac
• Ridgecrest Estates

Every fire recorded in San Diego County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 53 workings within 5 miles of Pala: 16 producers, 16 past producers, 14 occurrences, 7 prospects. 16 still produce. What was taken out: Gemstone, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Semiprecious Gemstone, Manganese. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Every working recorded in San Diego County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pala in 14 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 5 wildfire, 4 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 heavy rain. The reports record 29 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.

Every storm recorded in San Diego County

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

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.

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1661174. 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.