BlockBefore

San Marcos, California

40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Oceanside-Escondido census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92069. It lies near Twin Oaks Valley. The Survey maps it on the San Marcos quadrangle. 94,833 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 581 feet above sea level.

San Marcos within San Diego County

Then and now

1893 to 1996

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of San Marcos, surveyed 1996
Topographic sheet of San Marcos, surveyed 1893

Compare 1893 against another survey:

Population over time

3 figures

San Marcos grew from 3,896 to 94,833 between 1970 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.

YearPeople Change
19703,896
201083,781
202094,833+11,052 (+13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

16 surveys from 40 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

376 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 376 fires within 5 miles of San Marcos between 1992 and 2020, burning about 7,323 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 29 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/undetermined211
Equipment and vehicle use84
Arson/incendiarism29
Misuse of fire by a minor17
Debris and open burning9
Recreation and ceremony8
Smoking8
Natural5
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Other causes1
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
9 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSan Diego UnitROCK
9 September 1996Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSan Diego UnitELISO
8 September 1995Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSan Diego UnitWINTERHAVEN
7 September 2005Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Diego UnitHARMONY
6 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Diego UnitCENTER 2
6 September 1996Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Diego UnitTWIN OAKS
5 September 2005Equipment and vehicle use1.5 acresSan Diego UnitWILKES

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Diego County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 36 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 36 workings within 5 miles of San Marcos: 20 past producers, 11 producers, 3 prospects, 1 occurrence. 11 still produce. What was taken out: Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Copper, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
EncinitasCopper, LeadPast ProducerVein
Haborlite CorporationPerlitePast Producer
Morris Clay DepositClayProspect
Escondido Sand and Gravel WorksSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
San Marcos QuarrySand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Oro Fino El Diablo MineGoldProducer
Oro Fino MineGoldPast Producer
Oxide MineGoldProspect
Encinitas MineCopperPast Producer
Unnamed DepositCopperOccurrence

Every working recorded in San Diego County

Storms near this place

8 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names San Marcos in 8 storm reports between 1998 and 2023: 3 flash flood, 2 flood, 1 strong wind, 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
October 2004Flash FloodSan Marcos$1,000Heavy rain sent three to four feet of water rushing over Craven Rd. in San Marcos.
January 2023Flash FloodSan Marcos-Harmony Grove Road closed due to flooding, with 1-2 feet of flowing water from the Escondido Creek. Rainfall of 2 to 3 inches had been reported in the prior 24 hours, with 4 to 5.5 inches in the 72 hours leading up to the flooding.
January 2023Flash FloodSan Marcos-Harmony Grove Rd flooded at Wilgren Drive near Elfin Forest with four feet of water flowing in both directions into Elfin Park. Rain of 1.25-1.50 inch was reported that afternoon.
February 2023FloodSan Marcos-Public report of flooding at Country Club Dip south of Harmony Grove Road, resulting in its closure.
March 2023Heavy RainSan Marcos-A trained spotter near San Marcos reported 24hr rainfall totals of 0.95 inch.
December 2019FloodSan Marcos-Flooding in San Marcos due to heavy rain.
April 2001Thunderstorm WindSan Marcos-Pea size hail and with wind gusts estimated between 45 and 60 mph were reported by spotters.
August 1998Strong WindSan Marcos-no account filed

Every storm recorded in San Diego 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
Richland1.5 miles40
Lake San Marcos2.5 miles40
Twin Oaks3.0 miles40
Buena3.1 miles40
Harmony Grove3.6 miles43
Jesmond Dene4.0 miles42
Escondido4.5 miles43
Elfin Forest4.8 miles43

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 San MarcosAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q506411The 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 1661388. 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.