BlockBefore

Sonoma, California

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1902 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Sonoma census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95476. It lies near Schocken Hill. The Survey maps it on the Sonoma quadrangle. 10,739 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 85 feet above sea level.

Sonoma within Sonoma County

Then and now

1902 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 81 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Sonoma, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Sonoma, surveyed 1902

On record in Sonoma

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 10 records

Population over time

2 figures

Sonoma grew from 10,648 to 10,739 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
201010,648
202010,739+91 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 23 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

312 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 312 fires within 5 miles of Sonoma between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,466 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 20 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
Equipment and vehicle use122
Missing data/not specified/undetermined114
Debris and open burning23
Arson/incendiarism20
Misuse of fire by a minor11
Power generation/transmission/distribution11
Smoking6
Natural3
Recreation and ceremony1
Other causes1

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 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa Unitnot named
9 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSonoma-Lake Napa Unitnot named
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
9 September 1993Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitCAVEDALE
8 September 2004Equipment and vehicle use1.4 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitARNOLD
8 September 1992Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitSHERMAN
7 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitBARCELONA
6 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa Unitnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sonoma County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 28 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 28 workings within 5 miles of Sonoma: 16 past producers, 8 producers, 2 unknowns, 1 prospect. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Diatomite, 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
Stage Gulch Quarry , Inc.Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unnamed LocationGeothermalOccurrence
FelderDiatomiteProducerSedimentary
FelderDiatomitePast Producer
Mt Pisgah VineyardDiatomiteUnknown
Cannon QuarryStoneProducer
Cannon QuarryStonePast Producer
FelderStoneProducer
QuarryStoneProducer
QuarryStonePast Producer

Every working recorded in Sonoma County

Storms near this place

9 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sonoma in 9 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 5 flood, 2 heavy rain, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. The reports record 3 injuries. 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
February 1998Flash FloodSonoma1 hurt, $200,000no account filed
December 1996Tornado (F0)Sonoma1 hurt, $500no account filed
January 1998Heavy RainSonoma1 hurtno account filed
December 2008Heavy RainSonoma$25,000Heavy rain caused a fatality of a 32 year-old man when his vehicle collided with another vehicle. Highways 116 and 121 were closed for about three hours after the collision.
February 2024FloodSonoma-California Route 12 was closed until 8 AM due to flooding from Fremont Drive to Watmaugh Road.
February 2019FloodSonoma-CHP reports standing water in lane at Hwy 116 and Arnold Rd.
February 2019FloodSonoma-Flooding on CA-12 from Watmaugh Rd to CA-121 at Millerick Rd. All roads remain closed in both directions.
February 2019FloodSonoma-Roadway flooding in southbound lane of Arnold Dr near SR 116.
February 2019FloodSonoma-CHP reports a severe traffic alert and flooding on CA-12 from Watmaugh Rd to CA-121 at Millerick Rd, all lanes closed in both directions.

Every storm recorded in Sonoma 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
Four Corners1.1 miles23
Verano1.2 miles23
Buena Vista1.2 miles23
Batto1.3 miles23
Bonilla1.4 miles23
Vineburg1.7 miles23
El Verano1.8 miles23
Mission Highlands1.9 miles23

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 SonomaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q11592The 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 277617. 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.