Rucker, California
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1917 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the South Santa Clara Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95020. It stands on Little Llagas Creek. The Survey maps it on the Gilroy quadrangle.
Then and now
1917 to 1978The same ground, surveyed 61 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 24 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.
- 1917 USGS Morgan Hill quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1939 USGS Morgan Hill quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1941 USGS Morgan Hill quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Gilroy quadrangle1:24000, 7 printings
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Gilroy quadrangle1:24000
- 1978 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
890 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 890 fires within 5 miles of Rucker between 1992 and 2020, burning about 13,102 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 68 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 | 420 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 280 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 68 |
| Smoking | 37 |
| Debris and open burning | 31 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 27 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 13 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 12 |
| Natural | 2 |
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 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | ELAM |
| 9 September 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Santa Clara Unit | CHILDERS |
| 9 September 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | MASTEN #13 |
| 8 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 6.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | KERN |
| 8 September 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Santa Clara Unit | SANTA TERESA BL / MILLER |
| 8 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Santa Clara Unit | PIAZZA # 3 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 19 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Rucker: 10 past producers, 4 occurrences, 2 unknowns, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Chromium, Mercury. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howson Pit | Stone, Dimension | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Location | Gemstone | Occurrence | ||
| Laurel Lake Ranch | Chromium | Past Producer | ||
| Laurel Lake Ranch Deposits | Chromium | Past Producer | 1917, 1920 | |
| Rianda | Mercury | Past Producer | Cinnabar | |
| Rianda | Mercury | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Location | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Location | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Location | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Blenda | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
6 since 2017Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rucker in 6 storm reports between 2017 and 2021: 5 flood, 1 debris flow. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2021 | Debris Flow | Rucker | - | Tree, 10-12 ft, across both lanes by Redwood Retreat Rd and Watsonville Rd. Soils very saturated, heavy trees have been falling across the area. |
| February 2017 | Flood | Rucker | - | Roadway flooding Santa Teresa Blvd near Day Rd. |
| February 2017 | Flood | Rucker | - | Flooding in all roadway Masten Ave neaer Fitzgerald Ave. |
| February 2017 | Flood | Rucker | - | Roadway flooding on NB Monterey HWY at Rucker Rd 1 lane flooded. |
| February 2017 | Flood | Rucker | - | Roadway flooding on Monterey HWY at Fitzgerald Ave. Water pushed a vehicle into a gully. |
| February 2017 | Flood | Rucker | - | Fitzgerald Flooded west of Santa Teresa Rd. Santa Teresa Rd starting to flood. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lonoke | 2.1 miles | 24 | |
| San Martin | 2.3 miles | 24 | |
| Gilroy | 3.6 miles | 24 | |
| Tennant (historical) | 4.8 miles | 23 | |
| Old Gilroy | 5.1 miles | 29 | |
| Carnadero | 6.0 miles | 29 | |
| Morgan Hill | 6.2 miles | 22 | |
| Nema (historical) | 6.8 miles | 29 |
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.
| Wikidata item Q7376623 | 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 1659557. 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.









