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.
Then and now
1902 to 1983The 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.


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
- Sonoma PlazaNational Historic Landmark · listed 1975
Buena Vista Vineyards-Buena Vista Vinicultural Societylisted 1986
Nicholas Carriger Estatelisted 2001
Orange Lawnlisted 2008
Sonoma Depotlisted 1975
Sonoma Grammar Schoollisted 1980
Sonoma Valley Woman's Clublisted 2015
Temeleclisted 2006
Vallejo Estatelisted 1972- Sonoma Plaza (Boundary Increase)listed 1992
Population over time
2 figuresSonoma 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 10,648 | |
| 2020 | 10,739 | +91 (+1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 23 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.
- 1902 USGS Napa quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1942 USGS Sonoma quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1951 USGS Sonoma quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1951 USGS Sonoma quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1962 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Napa quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
312 since 1992Regional 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 use | 122 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 114 |
| Debris and open burning | 23 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 20 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 11 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 11 |
| Smoking | 6 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | not named |
| 9 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | not named |
| 9 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 9 September 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | CAVEDALE |
| 8 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.4 acres | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | ARNOLD |
| 8 September 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | SHERMAN |
| 7 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | BARCELONA |
| 6 September 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 28 shownRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage Gulch Quarry , Inc. | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Location | Geothermal | Occurrence | ||
| Felder | Diatomite | Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Felder | Diatomite | Past Producer | ||
| Mt Pisgah Vineyard | Diatomite | Unknown | ||
| Cannon Quarry | Stone | Producer | ||
| Cannon Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Felder | Stone | Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Producer | ||
| Quarry | Stone | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
9 since 1996Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Sonoma | 1 hurt, $200,000 | no account filed |
| December 1996 | Tornado (F0) | Sonoma | 1 hurt, $500 | no account filed |
| January 1998 | Heavy Rain | Sonoma | 1 hurt | no account filed |
| December 2008 | Heavy Rain | Sonoma | $25,000 | Heavy 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 2024 | Flood | Sonoma | - | California Route 12 was closed until 8 AM due to flooding from Fremont Drive to Watmaugh Road. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Sonoma | - | CHP reports standing water in lane at Hwy 116 and Arnold Rd. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Sonoma | - | Flooding on CA-12 from Watmaugh Rd to CA-121 at Millerick Rd. All roads remain closed in both directions. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Sonoma | - | Roadway flooding in southbound lane of Arnold Dr near SR 116. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Sonoma | - | 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. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four Corners | 1.1 miles | 23 | |
| Verano | 1.2 miles | 23 | |
| Buena Vista | 1.2 miles | 23 | |
| Batto | 1.3 miles | 23 | |
| Bonilla | 1.4 miles | 23 | |
| Vineburg | 1.7 miles | 23 | |
| El Verano | 1.8 miles | 23 | |
| Mission Highlands | 1.9 miles | 23 |
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 Sonoma | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q11592 | 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 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.









