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Penn Valley, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Grass Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95946. It lies near Horton Ridge. The Survey maps it on the Rough And Ready quadrangle. 1,593 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,401 feet above sea level.

Penn Valley within Nevada County

Then and now

1888 to 1998

The same ground, surveyed 110 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Penn Valley, surveyed 1998
Topographic sheet of Penn Valley, surveyed 1888

Population over time

2 figures

Penn Valley fell from 1,621 to 1,593 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
20101,621
20201,593-28 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 27 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

505 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 505 fires within 5 miles of Penn Valley between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,588 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 16 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/undetermined166
Equipment and vehicle use148
Debris and open burning112
Misuse of fire by a minor25
Arson/incendiarism16
Smoking13
Power generation/transmission/distribution10
Natural9
Other causes3
Recreation and ceremony3

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 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitJOHN
9 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 1887
8 September 2013Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitSPENCEVILLE
8 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitMELODY
8 September 1999Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitPOPPY
8 September 1998Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresCentral California DistrictMOONEY
7 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionPOKER
7 September 2001Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitMCCOURTNEY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Nevada County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 118 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 118 workings within 5 miles of Penn Valley: 54 past producers, 40 occurrences, 15 unknowns, 6 prospects. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Copper, Silver, Iron. 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
Arkasas TravelerCopper, Gold, ZincPast ProducerReplacement
Bitner GroupCopper, Gold, Aluminum, MagnesitePast ProducerChalcopyrite
CadmusGold, Copper, LeadPast ProducerUnderground
California MineCopper, Gold, SilverOccurrenceVein
Dorsey and Ridge ClaimsChromiumOccurrence1917
North StarGold, Copper, Lead, ZincPast ProducerGold
Rough & ReadyGold, PGEUnknown
Rough-And-ReadyGold, PlatinumProducer1848
TaylorIron, Copper, GoldProducerVein
California Gold and CopperCopper, Gold, SilverPast ProducerVein

Every working recorded in Nevada 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
Casey Corner0.7 miles27
Lake Wildwood2.6 miles27
Big Oak Valley3.5 miles24
Rough and Ready3.7 miles27
Mooney Flat4.6 miles24
Bitney Corner5.0 miles28
Starbright Acres5.5 miles28
Sunset View5.5 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 Penn ValleyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2078030The 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 1867050. 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.