Potter Valley, California
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Redwood Valley-Potter Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95469. It stands on Williams Creek. The Survey maps it on the Potter Valley quadrangle. 665 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 948 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1943 to 1996The same ground, surveyed 53 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1943 against another survey:
On record in Potter Valley
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 1 record
Spotswood Houselisted 2007
Population over time
2 figuresPotter Valley grew from 646 to 665 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 | 646 | |
| 2020 | 665 | +19 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 14 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.
- 1943 USGS Pomo quadrangle1:62500
- 1957 USGS Ukiah quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Potter Valley quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Potter Valley quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Ukiah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1981 USGS Ukiah quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
- 1996 USGS Potter Valley quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
83 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 83 fires within 5 miles of Potter Valley between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,442 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 5 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 | 28 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 21 |
| Debris and open burning | 18 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 6 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 5 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Northern California District | UNNAMED FIRE 3669 |
| 8 September 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Mendocino Unit | WEIR |
| 6 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Mendocino Unit | GIBSON |
| 30 September 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Mendocino Unit | not named |
| 29 September 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Mendocino Unit | HAWN |
| 27 September 2005 | Natural | under an acre | Mendocino Unit | VAN ARSDALE |
| 26 September 2005 | Natural | under an acre | Mendocino Unit | POWERHOUSE |
| 2 September 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Mendocino Unit | POTTER |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 31 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 31 workings within 5 miles of Potter Valley: 10 occurrences, 9 producers, 7 past producers, 4 prospects. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Manganese, Stone, Manganese, Silica, Silica, Manganese. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oberfeld Shale Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| South Thomas | Silica, Manganese | Past Producer | 1915, 1916 | |
| Mendocino Co. No.136 | Manganese, Silica | Past Producer | ||
| Thomas Mine | Manganese, Silica | Past Producer | 1912, 1914 | |
| Unknown | Stone | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Location | Stone | Occurrence | ||
| Bevins-Busch | Manganese | Producer | Psilomelane, Pyrolusite | |
| Bevins-Busch Claim | Manganese | Past Producer | 1917 | |
| Faucher | Manganese | Producer | Psilomelane | |
| Faucher Mine | Manganese | Prospect | 1918 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pomo | 1.4 miles | 14 | |
| Redwood Valley | 6.2 miles | 14 | |
| Coyote Valley Rancheria (historical) | 6.9 miles | 15 | |
| Laughlin | 7.1 miles | 14 | |
| Calpella | 7.8 miles | 15 | |
| Ridge | 10.0 miles | 15 | |
| The Forks | 10.3 miles | 15 | |
| Vichy Springs | 11.0 miles | 15 |
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 Potter Valley | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q3458782 | 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 265005. 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.






