Searles, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1976. It stands in the East Kern census division. The Survey maps it on the El Paso Peaks quadrangle. It stands 3,245 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1903 to 1976The same ground, surveyed 73 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1903 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 28 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.
- 1903 USGS Randsburg quadrangle1:62500
- 1911 USGS Randsburg quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1912 USGS Randsburg quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1915 USGS Searles Lake quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1947 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1960 USGS Trona quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1967 USGS El Paso Peaks quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1976 USGS Cuddeback Lake quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
21 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 21 fires within 5 miles of Searles between 1992 and 2020, burning about 454 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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 | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | HAIR |
| 7 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | CHINA LAKE |
| 2 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Desert District | UNNAMED FIRE 1094 |
| 2 July 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.5 acres | California Desert District | SEARLES |
| 2 July 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4.0 acres | California Desert District | BLUE |
| 13 July 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | California Desert District | JAVIS |
| 8 June 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Desert District | HONDA |
| 6 June 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Desert District | SEARLES |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 59 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 59 workings within 5 miles of Searles: 22 past producers, 21 prospects, 10 producers, 4 occurrences. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Copper, Bentonite, Silver. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beehive | Lead, Silver, Gold | Occurrence | Replacement | |
| Beehive | Lead, Gold, Silver | Prospect | ||
| Code Siding | Wollastonite | Producer | Wollastonite | |
| Grossardt Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Hoover Mine | Silver, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Hummer Mine | Gold, Silver, Lead | Past Producer | Underground | |
| Montgomery Claims | Antimony | Prospect | ||
| Red Wing Mine | Gold, Lead | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Gold, Arsenic, Barium-Barite | Prospect | ||
| Lucky Boy | Tungsten | Producer | Scheelite |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teagle (historical) | 3.3 miles | 28 | |
| Rand | 5.2 miles | 28 | |
| Goler Heights | 7.1 miles | 28 | |
| Johannesburg | 7.7 miles | 25 | |
| Randsburg | 8.0 miles | 25 | |
| Ridgecrest Heights | 8.7 miles | 23 | |
| Terese (historical) | 9.5 miles | 23 | |
| Ridgecrest | 9.7 miles | 23 |
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 Q7441760 | 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 252979. 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.










