BlockBefore

Rainbow, California

37 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 2000. It stands in the Colfax-Monumental Ridge census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95728. The Survey maps it on the Cisco Grove quadrangle. It stands 5,781 feet above sea level.

Rainbow within Placer County

Then and now

1891 to 2000

The same ground, surveyed 109 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Rainbow, surveyed 2000
Topographic sheet of Rainbow, surveyed 1891

Compare 1891 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 37 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

186 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 186 fires within 5 miles of Rainbow between 1992 and 2020, burning about 84 acres in total. 61 started naturally. 4 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
Recreation and ceremony66
Natural61
Missing data/not specified/undetermined26
Debris and open burning8
Smoking6
Equipment and vehicle use5
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Arson/incendiarism4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Fireworks1

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 2014Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreTahoe National ForestHUYSINK
7 September 2017Naturalunder an acreTahoe National ForestLONG
7 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreTahoe National ForestEAGLE
7 September 2016Recreation and ceremony38 acresTahoe National ForestPHOENIX
6 September 2018Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreTahoe National ForestSPRING
6 September 2017Naturalunder an acreTahoe National ForestNANCY FIRE
6 September 2017Naturalunder an acreTahoe National ForestTUTTLE
6 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTahoe National ForestFORDYCE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Placer County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 57 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 57 workings within 5 miles of Rainbow: 26 occurrences, 21 past producers, 7 unknowns, 3 producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Copper, Molybdenum, Gold, Silver. 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
CarlisleCopper, Zinc, Gold, SilverPast ProducerVein
Gould and Towle QuarryGraniteProducer
Gould and Towle QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Lucky JoeGold, Copper, ZincPast Producer
Mammoth GroupGold, Copper, SilverPast ProducerGold
Red Mountain GroupCopper, Gold, SilverOccurrenceVein
Sylvanite Gp.Gold, SilverPast ProducerGold
Lucky JoeGold, Copper, CobaltOccurrence
OccurrenceGold, SilverOccurrence
ProspectCopper, CobaltOccurrenceCobaltite

Every working recorded in Placer 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
Big Bend0.6 miles37
Tamarack (historical)0.9 miles36
Cisco Grove1.7 miles37
Cisco2.1 miles37
Troy2.4 miles36
Spruce (historical)4.3 miles36
Emigrant Gap8.7 miles34
The Cedars9.1 miles33

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 RainbowAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7284553The 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 1656241. 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.