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Pumpkin Center, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Greenfield-Panama census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93313. The Survey maps it on the Gosford quadrangle. 421 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 351 feet above sea level.

Pumpkin Center within Kern County

Then and now

1910 to 1981

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 Pumpkin Center, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Pumpkin Center, surveyed 1910

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 27 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

161 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 161 fires within 5 miles of Pumpkin Center between 2005 and 2020, burning about 252 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 25 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/undetermined108
Arson/incendiarism25
Equipment and vehicle use13
Misuse of fire by a minor5
Debris and open burning4
Smoking4
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
8 September 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
3 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
25 September 2017Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
23 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
20 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
2 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
2 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern 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 Pumpkin Center: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
County PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Dougherty PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

7 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Pumpkin Center in 7 storm reports between 2017 and 2025: 5 flood, 1 debris flow, 1 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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
September 2017Thunderstorm WindPumpkin Center$10,000Received a public report through Social Media that showed a building under construction damaged by thunderstorm wind gusts near State Route 99 and Berkshire Rd. in Bakersfield.
February 2025FloodPumpkin Center-California Highway Patrol reported flooding at the intersection of SR 99 and SR 119 with several vehicles hydroplaning.
January 2023FloodPumpkin Center-Public report of roadway flooding at the intersection of northbound SR 99 and the SR 119 offramp causing vehicles to swerve.
December 2022FloodPumpkin Center-California Highway Patrol reported flooding on southbound SR 99 as well as on the off ramp of southbound SR 99 to SR 119.
December 2022FloodPumpkin Center-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on northbound SR 99 at the SR 119 exchange.
January 2021FloodPumpkin Center-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding due to heavy rain on southbound SR 99 just north of the Houghton Rd. junction south of Bakersfield.
September 2017Debris FlowPumpkin Center-California Highway Patrol reported road flooding and debris due to heavy rainfall near Compagnoni St. and Taft Highway in Castle Ranch.

Every storm recorded in Kern 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
Panama1.2 miles27
Greenfield1.6 miles27
Alameda2.6 miles26
Rexland Acres3.1 miles29
Venola3.2 miles27
Bannister3.6 miles27
Wible Orchard3.6 miles27
Lakeside3.6 miles26

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 Pumpkin CenterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7259840The 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 1661262. 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.