Paynesville, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Markleeville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 96120. It lies near Wade Valley. The Survey maps it on the Woodfords quadrangle. It stands 5,118 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1889 to 1985The 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.


Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 28 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.
- 1889 USGS Markleeville quadrangle1:125000
- 1891 USGS Markleeville quadrangle1:125000
- 1893 USGS Markleeville quadrangle1:125000, 9 printings
- 1948 USGS Walker Lake quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Freel Peak quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Walker Lake quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1962 USGS Walker Lake quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Walker Lake quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1979 USGS Woodfords quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Smith Valley quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
147 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 147 fires within 5 miles of Paynesville between 1992 and 2020, burning about 16,194 acres in total. 75 started naturally. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 75 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 27 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 10 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 7 |
| Fireworks | 4 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Carson City District Office | WNA 8 |
| 30 September 2005 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Carson City District Office | WNA 10 |
| 3 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Carson City District Office | EDUCATION |
| 25 September 1998 | Natural | under an acre | Carson City District Office | BIA9 |
| 25 September 1994 | Natural | under an acre | Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest | HORSE 2 |
| 22 September 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Carson City District Office | BIA#20 |
| 16 September 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest | USFS 071 |
| 14 September 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest | WADE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 1,878 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,878 specimens collected within 10 miles of Paynesville between 1894 and 1975: 1,692 Animalia, 100 Fungi, 80 Plantae, 4 Unrecorded, 2 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A. Bartel, A. Eastwood and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.
| Image | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Aplodontia rufa californica (Peters, 1864) | 1894 | F. Stephens | Hope Valley |
![]() | Lepus townsendii Bachman, 1839 | 1894 | F. Stephens | Hope Valley |
![]() | Sorex palustris navigator (Baird, 1858) | 1894 | Frank Stephens | Above Woodfords |
![]() | Spermophilus beldingi Merriam, 1888 | 1894 | F. Stephens | Hope Valley |
![]() | Tamias quadrimaculatus Gray, 1867 | 1894 | F. Stephens | Markleeville |
![]() | Tamias speciosus frater J.A.Allen, 1890 | 1894 | F. Stephens | Markleeville |
![]() | Tamiasciurus douglasii (Bachman, 1839) | 1894 | F. Stephens | Hope Valley |
![]() | Zapus princeps J.A.Allen, 1893 | 1894 | F. Stephens | above Woodfords |
![]() | Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner, 1845) | 1895 | D Coolidge | ANDERSON'S RANCH |
![]() | Neotamias minimus (Bachman, 1839) | 1898 | W. W. Price; P. O. Simons | Double Spring |
![]() | Anacamptodon splachnoides (Froel. ex Brid.) Brid. | 1900 | Josephine D. Lowe | Burnside |
![]() | Bryum polycladum Cardot & Thér. | 1902 | Baker,C.F. 1133 | Nevada: Spooner, Douglas County, 2155 m. |
All 1,878 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 13 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Paynesville: 5 occurrences, 3 unknowns, 3 producers, 2 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Copper, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Gold. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Salt Co. | Salt | Producer | ||
| Black Jack | Lead | Occurrence | Galena | |
| Heise Boulder Quarry | Bromine | Producer | ||
| Hope Valley No 1 | Calcium | Occurrence | ||
| Redelius Prospect | Titanium, Metal | Occurrence | Rutile | |
| Alpine Fairview | Copper, Gold | Past Producer | Vein | |
| Alpine Fairview Mine | Copper, Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Environmental Community BLM Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Woodfords Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| Alpine County Pit No. 1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa Vista | 0.9 miles | 28 | |
| Fredericksburg | 1.4 miles | 28 | |
| Woodfords | 3.1 miles | 28 | |
| Alpine Village | 3.2 miles | 28 | |
| Sorensens | 7.0 miles | 31 | |
| Markleeville | 7.9 miles | 28 | |
| Marklee Village | 8.3 miles | 28 | |
| Shay Creek Summer Home Area | 8.4 miles | 28 |
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 Paynesville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4348023 | 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 1659355. 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.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
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.





















