BlockBefore

Sands, California

28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Newberry Springs-Baker census division. The Survey maps it on the Cowhole Mountain quadrangle.

Sands within San Bernardino County

Then and now

1910 to 1985

The same ground, surveyed 75 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Sands, surveyed 1985
Topographic sheet of Sands, surveyed 1910

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 28 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

4 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Sands between 1993 and 2019, burning about 3 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Smoking1
Arson/incendiarism1

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 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMojave National PreserveKELBAKER
16 September 1993Smoking2.0 acresSan Bernardino UnitJACK HAMMER
24 May 2000Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictGLASGOW
9 November 2019Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictTAMARISK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Bernardino County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Sands: 3 prospects, 2 occurrences, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Iron, Gold, Barium-Barite. 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
Unnamed Barite ProspectBarium-BariteProspect
Unnamed LocationPerliteUnknown
Unnamed ProspectCopper, GoldProspect
Unnamed Iron OccurrenceIronOccurrence
Unnamed OccurrenceIronOccurrenceHematite, Magnetite
Unnamed ProspectCopperProspect

Every working recorded in San Bernardino 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
Glasgow4.4 miles16
Balch4.9 miles21
Kerens8.0 miles16
Belfast (historical)8.7 miles21
Flynn11.4 miles17
Crucero12.0 miles22
Zzyzx12.3 miles21
King (historical)14.1 miles22

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 252977. 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.