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Port Watsonville, California

26 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Watsonville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95076. The Survey maps it on the Moss Landing quadrangle. The federal gazetteer marks this settlement historical: it is no longer a populated place, though the surveys that recorded it still are.

Port Watsonville within Santa Cruz County

Then and now

1912 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 71 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Port Watsonville (historical), surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Port Watsonville (historical), surveyed 1912

Compare 1912 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 26 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

252 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 252 fires within 5 miles of Port Watsonville (historical) between 1992 and 2020, burning about 771 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 29 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/undetermined130
Equipment and vehicle use47
Arson/incendiarism29
Debris and open burning22
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Recreation and ceremony6
Smoking5
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Natural2

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 acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitSAN ANDREAS
9 September 1999Naturalunder an acreEllicott Slough National Wildlife RefugeCARSON
8 September 2013Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitTHURWACHTER
30 September 2000Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreEllicott Slough National Wildlife RefugeGOULET
28 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionLAS LOMAS DR NORTH_COUNT
28 September 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreSan Benito-Monterey UnitOVERPASS
26 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.2 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionVISTA
25 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionTHURWACHTER

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Cruz County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Port Watsonville (historical): 1 occurrence, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Titanium, Salt. 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
Monterey Bay Salt WorksSaltProducer
Triumph Steel CoTitaniumOccurrence

Every working recorded in Santa Cruz 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
Port Watsonvile1.5 miles27
Nuga (historical)2.1 miles27
Ellicott3.3 miles27
Watsonville4.4 miles27
Colache Town4.4 miles27
La Selva Beach4.8 miles27
Larkin Valley4.8 miles27
Freedom5.0 miles27

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1670531. 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.