BlockBefore

Santa Monica, California

50 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Santa Monica census division. It lies in ZIP code area 90401. It lies near Rustic Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Beverly Hills quadrangle. 93,076 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 105 feet above sea level.

Santa Monica within Los Angeles County

Then and now

1894 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 101 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Santa Monica, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Santa Monica, surveyed 1894

Compare 1894 against another survey:

On record in Santa Monica

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 10 records

Population over time

15 figures

Santa Monica grew from 417 to 93,076 between 1880 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
1880417
18901,580+1,163 (+279%)
19003,057+1,477 (+93%)
19107,847+4,790 (+157%)
192015,252+7,405 (+94%)
193037,146+21,894 (+144%)
194053,500+16,354 (+44%)
195071,595+18,095 (+34%)
196083,249+11,654 (+16%)
197088,289+5,040 (+6%)
198088,314+25 (+0%)
199086,905-1,409 (-2%)
200084,084-2,821 (-3%)
201089,736+5,652 (+7%)
202093,076+3,340 (+4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

20 surveys from 50 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

32 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Santa Monica between 2005 and 2020, burning about 203 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined18
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Smoking4
Debris and open burning2
Equipment and vehicle use2
Natural1
Recreation and ceremony1

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
30 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSanta Monica Mountains National Recreation AreaCALVARY
18 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
16 September 2019Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreLos Angeles County Fire Departmentnot named
15 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined7.0 acresSanta Monica Mountains National Recreation AreaRUSTIC
11 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 July 2009Misuse of fire by a minor80 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
29 July 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSanta Monica Mountains National Recreation AreaENTRADA
28 July 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSanta Monica Mountains National Recreation AreaDEPAUW

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Los Angeles 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 Santa Monica: 6 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, 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
Pacific Beach Mining & Dredging CoGoldPast Producer
Acme Brick Co. PitClayPast Producer
Gladding-Mcbean-Santa Monica PitClayPast Producer
Santa Monica Brick Co.ClayPast Producer
Simons Brick Co.-Santa Monica PitClayPast Producer
Western Brick Co.ClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Los Angeles County

Storms near this place

3 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Santa Monica in 3 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 1 funnel cloud, 1 flood, 1 flash flood. 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
February 2026FloodSanta Monica-Heavy rain produced significant flooding on Interstate 10 at the intersection with 4th Street.
February 2026Flash FloodSanta Monica-Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding from the McClure Tunnel to eastbound Interstate 10. Several vehicles were stuck in the flood waters.
March 1998Funnel CloudSanta Monica-A spotter in the Santa Monica area reported two funnel clouds.

Every storm recorded in Los Angeles 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
Ocean Park1.3 miles50
Sawtelle1.7 miles50
Westgate2.3 miles50
Brentwood2.4 miles50
Brentwood Park2.5 miles50
Venice2.6 miles44
Riviera2.7 miles38
Pacific Palisades2.7 miles38

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 Santa MonicaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q47164The 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 1652792. 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.