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Petaluma, California

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1914 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Petaluma census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94952. It stands on Lynch Creek. The Survey maps it on the Petaluma quadrangle. 59,776 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 30 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Petaluma within Sonoma County

Then and now

1914 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 69 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Petaluma, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Petaluma, surveyed 1914

On record in Petaluma

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 9 records

Population over time

2 figures

Petaluma grew from 57,941 to 59,776 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
201057,941
202059,776+1,835 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 22 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

294 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 294 fires within 5 miles of Petaluma between 1992 and 2020, burning about 742 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 15 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
Equipment and vehicle use118
Missing data/not specified/undetermined109
Misuse of fire by a minor17
Arson/incendiarism15
Debris and open burning14
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Smoking7
Natural3
Recreation and ceremony2
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 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitHWY 101 / KASTANIA RD 6
9 September 1995Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitD STREET
7 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa Unitnot named
7 September 1992Recreation and ceremony35 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitBARBONI
7 September 1992Smokingunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitADOBE
6 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
4 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.4 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitADOBE
3 September 2005Misuse of fire by a minor2.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sonoma County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 29 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 29 workings within 5 miles of Petaluma: 12 producers, 8 occurrences, 5 past producers, 3 prospects. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Mercury, Gemstone. 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
Mazza ProspectNickelProspect1918
Petaluma Plant No. 7Stone, DimensionProducer
West Mayacmas District ReportChromium, MercuryProducer1850, 1861
Skinner RanchGraphiteProducer
Skinner RanchGraphitePast Producer
Hell's Half Acre QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Hillside QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Massa HillGemstoneOccurrence1950
Massa HillGemstoneProducer
Massa HillGemstonePast Producer

Every working recorded in Sonoma County

Storms near this place

15 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Petaluma in 15 storm reports between 1998 and 2020: 6 hail, 5 flash flood, 3 flood, 1 lightning. 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
February 1998Flash FloodPetaluma$2,000,000Flash Flood on Willow Brook at Stoney Point Road near Petaluma. 25 homes near the river were evacuated as well as 40 to 50 residents of a Mobile home park.
January 2008Flash FloodPetaluma$800,000Very heavy rain caused flash flooding around Petaluma late Friday night, January 26th. The Petaluma River near Corona Road went over its flood stage of 25.5 feet reaching nearly 30 feet. At least a dozen homes were flooded as were several businesses.
December 2012FloodPetaluma$100Minor Flooding on Willow Brook observed.
March 2020HailPetaluma-Video on social media showing small hail near Petaluma.
February 2019FloodPetaluma-Near creek roadway flooded, D St at San Antonio Rd.
January 2018HailPetaluma-BB sized hail.
January 2018HailPetaluma-Spotter reported thunderstorms with pea sized hail and lightning.
January 2018HailPetaluma-CoCoRaHS observer reported pea sized hail near Petaluma.
March 2018LightningPetaluma-The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa reported that lightning struck a PG&E circuit at 11 am the morning of the 14th causing a power outage for 25 Petaluma residents lasting through the evening|http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8113975-181/rainfall-hail-in-sonoma-county?gallery=8113553&sba=AAS.
March 2018HailPetaluma-The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa showed multiple reports of accumulating small hail in downtown Petaluma|http://www.pressdemocrat.com/gallery/8113553-181/reader-submitted-photos-rain-hail-hits?sba=AAS&artslide=0.
December 2016FloodPetaluma-Northbound SR 121 closed due to flooding - Junction of Route 116 and 121, Arnold Drive, Fremont Drive to Schellville Road, Eighth Street.
February 1998Flash FloodPetaluma-On Willow Brook
February 1998Flash FloodPetaluma-On Willow Brook
February 1998Flash FloodPetaluma-On Willow Brook
January 2018HailPetaluma-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sonoma 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
East Petaluma0.5 miles22
McNear1.2 miles25
Haystack1.5 miles25
Corona (historical)2.5 miles24
Crown2.6 miles24
Denman (historical)3.5 miles24
Ely (historical)3.6 miles24
Penngrove4.9 miles24

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 PetalumaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q720087The 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 277575. 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.