Secret Town, California
36 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 2000. It stands in the Colfax-Monumental Ridge census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95713. It lies near Cold Spring Hill. The Survey maps it on the Chicago Park quadrangle. It stands 2,904 feet above sea level.
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.


Compare 1891 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
14 surveys from 36 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 Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1894 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1898 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1900 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000
- 1902 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1938 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
- 1949 USGS Chicago Park quadrangle1:24000, 7 printings
- 1950 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1951 USGS Chicago Park quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1960 USGS Chico quadrangle1:250000
- 1977 USGS Truckee quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 2000 USGS Chicago Park quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
404 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 404 fires within 5 miles of Secret Town between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,604 acres in total. 22 started naturally. 12 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 | 140 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 94 |
| Debris and open burning | 74 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 25 |
| Natural | 22 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 13 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 12 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 10 |
| Smoking | 7 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | PGE |
| 8 September 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | SECRET |
| 8 September 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | DUTCH |
| 7 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | POWERLINE |
| 7 September 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Central California District | UNNAMED FIRE 1434 |
| 7 September 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Central California District | SUCCOR |
| 7 September 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Central California District | PENINSULA |
| 6 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit | ALTA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 249 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 249 workings within 5 miles of Secret Town: 81 unknowns, 67 past producers, 66 occurrences, 35 producers. 35 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Asbestos, Silver, Chromium. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas Traveler | Gold, Copper, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Big Blue | Gold, Lead | Past Producer | Galena, Gold | |
| Dutch Flat District | Gold, Platinum, Silver, Lead, Iron, Zinc, Copper, Indium | Past Producer | 1849 | |
| North Fork Chrome Mine | Chromium, Iron | Past Producer | 1941 | |
| Pacific Silica Greenhorn Plant | Silica | Producer | ||
| Placer County Properties Co | Magnesite | Unknown | ||
| Steele Property | Mineral Pigments | Occurrence | Mineral Pigments | |
| Steele Property | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Victory | Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite | |
| Greenhorn | Copper | Occurrence | Chalcopyrite |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magra | 1.1 miles | 36 | |
| Gold Run | 2.0 miles | 37 | |
| Monte Vista | 3.1 miles | 37 | |
| Cape Horn | 3.2 miles | 36 | |
| Iowa Hill | 3.5 miles | 33 | |
| Dutch Flat | 4.0 miles | 37 | |
| Shady Glen | 4.7 miles | 34 | |
| Alta | 4.9 miles | 37 |
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 Secret Town | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7444127 | 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 1656283. 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.













