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Potrero, California

30 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Mountain Empire census division. It lies in ZIP code area 91963. It lies near Big Potrero. The Survey maps it on the Potrero quadrangle. 648 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,336 feet above sea level.

Potrero within San Diego County

Then and now

1903 to 1996

The same ground, surveyed 93 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Potrero, surveyed 1996
Topographic sheet of Potrero, surveyed 1903

Compare 1903 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Potrero fell from 656 to 648 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
2010656
2020648-8 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 30 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

448 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 448 fires within 5 miles of Potrero between 1992 and 2020, burning about 111,721 acres in total. 7 started naturally. 114 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/undetermined168
Arson/incendiarism114
Recreation and ceremony68
Equipment and vehicle use36
Misuse of fire by a minor25
Debris and open burning23
Natural7
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Fireworks1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Other causes1
Firearms and explosives use1

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 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined12 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictPOTRERO
7 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined22 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictBORDER 9
6 September 2001Debris and open burningunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictGOODE
5 September 1992Arson/incendiarism10 acresSan Diego UnitTECATE#29
5 September 1992Misuse of fire by a minor2.0 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictTECATE
4 September 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Diego UnitTECATE MISSION TECATE
30 September 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Diego UnitTECATE RD POTRERO 110
30 September 1996Debris and open burningunder an acreSan Diego UnitGUERRERO

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Diego County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Potrero: 4 occurrences, 2 prospects, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Silica, Iron, Feldspar, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Last Chance ClaimGoldOccurrence
Pilz DepositFeldspar, SilicaProspect
CampoIronOccurrenceVein
Companion No. 1 DepositIronProspect
Round Potrero DepositSilicaOccurrence
Unnamed-2 ProspectSilicaOccurrence

Every working recorded in San Diego County

Storms near this place

4 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Potrero in 4 storm reports between 2000 and 2002: 2 wildfire, 1 flood, 1 hail. The reports record 1 injury. 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
December 2001WildfirePotrero1 hurt, $2,000,000no account filed
August 2002WildfirePotrero-no account filed
September 2002HailPotrero-no account filed
August 2000FloodPotrero-no account filed

Every storm recorded in San Diego 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
Tecate2.0 miles28
Canyon City4.6 miles30
Barrett Junction5.0 miles28
Hacienda del Florasol6.0 miles30
Rancho Del Campo7.6 miles19
Campo7.6 miles19
Cameron Corners7.7 miles22
Morena Village7.7 miles31

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 PotreroAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3458232The 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 247733. 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.