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.
Then and now
1912 to 1983The 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.


Compare 1912 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 26 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.
- 1912 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1914 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1940 USGS Capitola quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Moss Landing quadrangle1:24000, 7 printings
- 1955 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
252 since 1992Regional 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/undetermined | 130 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 47 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 29 |
| Debris and open burning | 22 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | SAN ANDREAS |
| 9 September 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge | CARSON |
| 8 September 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit | THURWACHTER |
| 30 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge | GOULET |
| 28 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | LAS LOMAS DR NORTH_COUNT |
| 28 September 2013 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | San Benito-Monterey Unit | OVERPASS |
| 26 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.2 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | VISTA |
| 25 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | THURWACHTER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monterey Bay Salt Works | Salt | Producer | ||
| Triumph Steel Co | Titanium | Occurrence |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Watsonvile | 1.5 miles | 27 | |
| Nuga (historical) | 2.1 miles | 27 | |
| Ellicott | 3.3 miles | 27 | |
| Watsonville | 4.4 miles | 27 | |
| Colache Town | 4.4 miles | 27 | |
| La Selva Beach | 4.8 miles | 27 | |
| Larkin Valley | 4.8 miles | 27 | |
| Freedom | 5.0 miles | 27 |
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.










