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Shelter Cove, California

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1920 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Garberville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95589. It lies near Dead Mans Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Shelter Cove quadrangle. 803 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 138 feet above sea level.

Shelter Cove within Humboldt County

Then and now

1920 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 77 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Shelter Cove, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Shelter Cove, surveyed 1920

Compare 1920 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Shelter Cove grew from 693 to 803 between 2010 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
2010693
2020803+110 (+16%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 16 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

63 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 63 fires within 5 miles of Shelter Cove between 1992 and 2020, burning about 62 acres in total. 7 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
Debris and open burning21
Missing data/not specified/undetermined20
Natural7
Equipment and vehicle use5
Recreation and ceremony4
Arson/incendiarism1
Other causes1
Fireworks1
Smoking1
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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 2004Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNorthern California DistrictHUU CHEMIS
8 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionGALE
6 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresHumboldt-Del Norte UnitUSAL
5 September 2003Natural3.0 acresNorthern California DistrictHUU CHAM 1
3 September 2003Naturalunder an acreNorthern California DistrictHUU SHELT
3 September 2003Naturalunder an acreNorthern California DistrictHUU CHAM 2
3 September 2003Naturalunder an acreNorthern California DistrictHUU 12
27 September 2012Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitWARDEN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Humboldt County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Shelter Cove: 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Manganese, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Chemise Mountain QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Queens PeakManganeseUnknown1961
Queens Peak Mng. Co.ManganeseProducer1958

Every working recorded in Humboldt County

Storms near this place

9 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Shelter Cove in 9 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 3 heavy rain, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 rip current. The reports record 3 deaths. 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
March 2000Rip CurrentShelter Cove3 killedno account filed
December 2016Heavy RainShelter Cove$1,500,000A landslide caused by heavy rain resulted in damage of Shelter Cove Road, the primary route from Shelter Cove at the coast to interior areas of Humboldt County.
December 2016Heavy RainShelter Cove$200,000A culvert failure due to heavy rain along Telegraph Creek Road has the potential to release 10,000 cubic yards of sediment into Telegraph Creek.
January 2026Thunderstorm WindShelter Cove-Three trees down on Hillside Drive in Shelter Cove. Winds were estimated at between 60 and 70 mph.
January 2026Thunderstorm WindShelter Cove-Tree down on King Peak Road blocking a quarter of the roadway.
January 2026Thunderstorm WindShelter Cove-Many branches and small trees down along Shelter Cove Road between Shelter Cove and Briceland.
February 2019Heavy RainShelter Cove-Rock slide at the intersection of Shelter Cove Road and Paradise Ridge Road.
March 1996HailShelter Cove-no account filed
March 1995HailShelter Cove-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Humboldt 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
Thorn Junction6.2 miles17
Whitethorn6.9 miles17
Ettersburg8.5 miles16
Briceland10.6 miles17
Hunter Place10.7 miles13
Scott Place12.3 miles13
Beall Place12.9 miles14
Westlund Place14.3 miles13

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 Shelter CoveAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3458363The 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 1659640. 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.