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.
Then and now
1903 to 1996The 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.


Compare 1903 against another survey:
Population over time
2 figuresPotrero 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 656 | |
| 2020 | 648 | -8 (-1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 30 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.
- 1903 USGS Cuyamaca quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 2 quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1942 USGS Potrero quadrangle1:48000
- 1944 USGS Potrero quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Diego quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Potrero quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Potrero quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1979 USGS El Cajon quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1996 USGS Potrero quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
448 since 1992Regional 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/undetermined | 168 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 114 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 68 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 36 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 25 |
| Debris and open burning | 23 |
| Natural | 7 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 1 |
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 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 acres | California Desert District | POTRERO |
| 7 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 acres | California Desert District | BORDER 9 |
| 6 September 2001 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | California Desert District | GOODE |
| 5 September 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 acres | San Diego Unit | TECATE#29 |
| 5 September 1992 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2.0 acres | California Desert District | TECATE |
| 4 September 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | San Diego Unit | TECATE MISSION TECATE |
| 30 September 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | San Diego Unit | TECATE RD POTRERO 110 |
| 30 September 1996 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | San Diego Unit | GUERRERO |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Last Chance Claim | Gold | Occurrence | ||
| Pilz Deposit | Feldspar, Silica | Prospect | ||
| Campo | Iron | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Companion No. 1 Deposit | Iron | Prospect | ||
| Round Potrero Deposit | Silica | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed-2 Prospect | Silica | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
4 since 2000Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2001 | Wildfire | Potrero | 1 hurt, $2,000,000 | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Wildfire | Potrero | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Potrero | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Flood | Potrero | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tecate | 2.0 miles | 28 | |
| Canyon City | 4.6 miles | 30 | |
| Barrett Junction | 5.0 miles | 28 | |
| Hacienda del Florasol | 6.0 miles | 30 | |
| Rancho Del Campo | 7.6 miles | 19 | |
| Campo | 7.6 miles | 19 | |
| Cameron Corners | 7.7 miles | 22 | |
| Morena Village | 7.7 miles | 31 |
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 Potrero | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3458232 | The 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.











