BlockBefore

Paradise, California

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Paradise census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95969. It lies near McKay Ridge. The Survey maps it on the Paradise East quadrangle. 4,764 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,778 feet above sea level.

Paradise within Butte County

Then and now

1891 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Paradise, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Paradise, surveyed 1891

Compare 1891 against another survey:

On record in Paradise

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Paradise fell from 26,218 to 4,764 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201026,218
20204,764-21,454 (-82%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 24 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

599 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 599 fires within 5 miles of Paradise between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,833 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 75 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/undetermined239
Equipment and vehicle use136
Arson/incendiarism75
Debris and open burning68
Misuse of fire by a minor36
Smoking20
Power generation/transmission/distribution13
Natural7
Recreation and ceremony4
Fireworks1

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
9 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreButte UnitNEAL
9 September 2009Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 September 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresNorthern California DistrictFLUME
7 September 1999Arson/incendiarismunder an acreNorthern California DistrictPINES
7 September 1996Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreButte UnitSKYWAY
6 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresButte UnitDOGTOWN
6 September 2009Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2007Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Butte County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 74 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 74 workings within 5 miles of Paradise: 33 past producers, 19 unknowns, 18 occurrences, 4 producers. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Chromium, 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
Mineral Slide DepositIron, Manganese, ChromiumOccurrenceVein
RainbowGold, ChromiumOccurrenceChromite, Gold
S and DGold, Copper, SilverPast Producer
Kennedy Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Sake and Sanders Rock PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Sake and Sanders Rock PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
BadgerGold, SilverPast Producer
BennettGold, SilverPast Producer
DeltaGold, SilverPast Producer
Electric Mining Co. PropertyGold, SilverPast Producer

Every working recorded in Butte County

Storms near this place

6 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Paradise in 6 storm reports between 2001 and 2021: 2 hail, 2 heavy rain, 1 lightning, 1 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
March 2009LightningParadise$10,000Lighting struck a dentist office, damaging a swamp cooler on the roof, the office computer, and the phone system.
October 2021Heavy RainParadise-Heavy rain and flooding was reported in Butte County. Paradise reported 10.09 inches of storm total rain and 9.09 inches east of Deadwood. A daily rainfall record was also set at 4.57 inches at Oroville Airport.
May 2019FloodParadise-Social media reported local street flooding.
December 2016Heavy RainParadise-A CC-OP observere reported heavy rain, 3.45 24 hour total.
February 2001HailParadise-no account filed
February 2001HailParadise-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Butte 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
Mineral Slide1.8 miles24
Centerville2.6 miles26
Irish Town3.6 miles26
Helltown4.1 miles26
Magalia4.3 miles24
Paradise Pines5.1 miles24
Deadwood5.3 miles29
Concow5.4 miles29

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 ParadiseAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q387183The 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 277573. 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.