Scales, California
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 2000. It stands in the West Sierra census division. It stands on Shower Branch. The Survey maps it on the Goodyears Bar quadrangle.
Then and now
1891 to 2000The 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 sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 27 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.
- 1891 USGS Downieville quadrangle1:125000
- 1893 USGS Downieville quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Downieville quadrangle1:125000
- 1896 USGS Downieville quadrangle1:125000
- 1897 USGS Downieville quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1951 USGS Downieville quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1951 USGS Goodyears Bar quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS Portola quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 2000 USGS Goodyears Bar quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
53 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 53 fires within 5 miles of Scales between 1992 and 2019, burning about 274 acres in total. 29 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 29 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1998 | Natural | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | PORT |
| 6 September 2017 | Natural | under an acre | Tahoe National Forest | CHARLES |
| 5 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | AMERICAN |
| 5 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | AMERICAN 3 |
| 5 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | AMERICAN 2 |
| 4 September 1998 | Natural | under an acre | Plumas National Forest | SLATE |
| 29 September 2019 | Natural | under an acre | Tahoe National Forest | CRAIG |
| 28 September 1994 | Natural | 5.0 acres | Plumas National Forest | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 80 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 80 workings within 5 miles of Scales: 27 occurrences, 20 past producers, 16 producers, 13 unknowns. 16 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Chromium, Platinum. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alturas | Silver, Gold | Producer | ||
| Brandy City Mine | Chromium, Magnesite | Producer | 1917 | |
| Carpenter Deposit | Gold, Iron | Unknown | ||
| Diamond Springs | Nickel | Unknown | ||
| Magruder Prospects | Clay | Unknown | ||
| Sailor Boy Diggings | Gold, Platinum | Producer | 1855 | |
| Sailor Boy Diggings | Gold, Platinum | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Sand and Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | Sedimentary | |
| Unnamed Sand and Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| D.E. Luce & Co | Chromium | Past Producer |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Hill | 0.6 miles | 27 | |
| Mount Pleasant | 1.2 miles | 27 | |
| McMahons (historical) | 1.8 miles | 27 | |
| Poverty Hill | 1.8 miles | 27 | |
| Brandy City | 4.5 miles | 27 | |
| Cal-Ida | 5.1 miles | 27 | |
| Eureka (historical) | 5.2 miles | 27 | |
| Queen City | 5.4 miles | 26 |
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 Scales | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q18355771 | 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 1659607. 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.










