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Snelling, California

31 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Snelling census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95369. The Survey maps it on the Snelling quadrangle. 238 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 256 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Snelling within Merced County

Then and now

1893 to 1994

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 Snelling, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Snelling, surveyed 1893

Population over time

2 figures

Snelling grew from 231 to 238 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
2010231
2020238+7 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

15 surveys from 31 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

202 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 202 fires within 5 miles of Snelling between 1992 and 2020, burning about 7,451 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 7 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/undetermined103
Equipment and vehicle use61
Debris and open burning14
Smoking8
Arson/incendiarism7
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Natural3
Recreation and ceremony2

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 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitG STREET
8 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitLA GRANGE RD / MERCED F 3
8 September 1998Natural12 acresMerced-Mariposa UnitSNELLING
5 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitTURLOCK
30 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitHWY 59 N/ YOUD RD
30 September 2005Smokingunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitFIELDS
29 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitFIELDS
26 September 1993Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMerced-Mariposa UnitROADSIDE #117

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Merced County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 18 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Snelling: 10 past producers, 8 producers. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Platinum, Silver, Silver, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
SnellingGold, Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium, Ruthenium, Osmium, IridiumProducer1848, 1952
Snelling DistrictGold, Silver, PlatinumPast Producer1850
Merced Dredging Co.Gold, Platinum, SilverPast Producer1934
San Joaquin Mining Co.Gold, Platinum, SilverPast Producer
Snelling Gold Dredging Co.Gold, Platinum, SilverPast Producer1932
Yosemite Mining and Dredging Co.Gold, Platinum, SilverPast Producer
Yuba Consolidated GoldfieldsGold, Platinum, SilverPast Producer1930
B and W Mining Co.GoldPast Producer
Carson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Dredge TailingsGoldPast Producer

Every working recorded in Merced County

Storms near this place

9 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Snelling in 9 storm reports between 2006 and 2025: 8 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
March 2025FloodSnelling-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding along SR 59 northeast of Snelling.
January 2024FloodSnelling-California Highway Patrol reported flooding on SR 59 with two vehicles spun out near Fields Rd.
February 2024FloodSnelling-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding near the intersection of Fields Rd. and La Grange Rd.
February 2024FloodSnelling-California Highway Patrol reported two vehicles were stuck in flood water near the intersection of Merced Falls Rd. and La Grange Rd.
December 2022FloodSnelling-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on SR J59 in Snelling.
March 2019FloodSnelling-California Highway Patrol reported flooding at the intersection of Fields Road and La Grange Road.
March 2018Flash FloodSnelling-California Highway Patrol reported the entire roadway flooded at the intersection of Roadway J59 and Fields Rd.
January 2017FloodSnelling-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on La Grange Road near Fields Road north of Snelling.
January 2006FloodSnelling-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Merced 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
Hopeton5.3 miles17
Merced Falls5.6 miles30
Edendale (historical)6.0 miles17
Amsterdam8.3 miles17
Arundel (historical)9.9 miles17
Nairn (historical)10.6 miles17
Bellevue (historical)11.3 miles16
The Grove11.5 miles17

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 SnellingAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6646686The 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 234756. 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.