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
Then and now
1893 to 1994The 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.


Population over time
2 figuresSnelling 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 231 | |
| 2020 | 238 | +7 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
15 surveys from 31 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.
- 1893 USGS Sonora quadrangle1:125000
- 1896 USGS Sonora quadrangle1:125000
- 1897 USGS Sonora quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1898 USGS Sonora quadrangle1:125000
- 1918 USGS Snelling quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1944 USGS Merced Falls quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Snelling quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Merced Falls quadrangle1:62500
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Merced Falls quadrangle1:62500
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1962 USGS Snelling quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1994 USGS Oakdale quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
202 since 1992Regional 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/undetermined | 103 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 61 |
| Debris and open burning | 14 |
| Smoking | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
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 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | G STREET |
| 8 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | LA GRANGE RD / MERCED F 3 |
| 8 September 1998 | Natural | 12 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | SNELLING |
| 5 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | TURLOCK |
| 30 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | HWY 59 N/ YOUD RD |
| 30 September 2005 | Smoking | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | FIELDS |
| 29 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | FIELDS |
| 26 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | ROADSIDE #117 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 18 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snelling | Gold, Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium, Ruthenium, Osmium, Iridium | Producer | 1848, 1952 | |
| Snelling District | Gold, Silver, Platinum | Past Producer | 1850 | |
| Merced Dredging Co. | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | 1934 | |
| San Joaquin Mining Co. | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Snelling Gold Dredging Co. | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | 1932 | |
| Yosemite Mining and Dredging Co. | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Yuba Consolidated Goldfields | Gold, Platinum, Silver | Past Producer | 1930 | |
| B and W Mining Co. | Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Carson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Dredge Tailings | Gold | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 2006Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2025 | Flood | Snelling | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding along SR 59 northeast of Snelling. |
| January 2024 | Flood | Snelling | - | California Highway Patrol reported flooding on SR 59 with two vehicles spun out near Fields Rd. |
| February 2024 | Flood | Snelling | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding near the intersection of Fields Rd. and La Grange Rd. |
| February 2024 | Flood | Snelling | - | California Highway Patrol reported two vehicles were stuck in flood water near the intersection of Merced Falls Rd. and La Grange Rd. |
| December 2022 | Flood | Snelling | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on SR J59 in Snelling. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Snelling | - | California Highway Patrol reported flooding at the intersection of Fields Road and La Grange Road. |
| March 2018 | Flash Flood | Snelling | - | California Highway Patrol reported the entire roadway flooded at the intersection of Roadway J59 and Fields Rd. |
| January 2017 | Flood | Snelling | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on La Grange Road near Fields Road north of Snelling. |
| January 2006 | Flood | Snelling | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hopeton | 5.3 miles | 17 | |
| Merced Falls | 5.6 miles | 30 | |
| Edendale (historical) | 6.0 miles | 17 | |
| Amsterdam | 8.3 miles | 17 | |
| Arundel (historical) | 9.9 miles | 17 | |
| Nairn (historical) | 10.6 miles | 17 | |
| Bellevue (historical) | 11.3 miles | 16 | |
| The Grove | 11.5 miles | 17 |
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 Snelling | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q6646686 | 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 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.














