BlockBefore

Squirrel Mountain Valley, California

28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the Lake Isabella census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93240. It lies near Lynch Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Lake Isabella South quadrangle. 760 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,900 feet above sea level.

Squirrel Mountain Valley within Kern County

Then and now

1906 to 1978

The same ground, surveyed 72 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Squirrel Mountain Valley, surveyed 1978
Topographic sheet of Squirrel Mountain Valley, surveyed 1906

Population over time

2 figures

Squirrel Mountain Valley grew from 547 to 760 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
2010547
2020760+213 (+39%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 28 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

432 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 432 fires within 5 miles of Squirrel Mountain Valley between 1992 and 2020, burning about 60,037 acres in total. 15 started naturally. 29 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/undetermined193
Recreation and ceremony50
Misuse of fire by a minor40
Equipment and vehicle use38
Arson/incendiarism29
Power generation/transmission/distribution22
Fireworks19
Natural15
Smoking13
Debris and open burning12
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 2001Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresSequoia National ForestAUXILLARY
9 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 1069
8 September 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
8 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSequoia National ForestLAKE
7 September 1998Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSequoia National ForestGULCH
6 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.4 acresCentral California DistrictFORK
6 September 2012Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSequoia National ForestHUNGRY
6 September 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSequoia National ForestHUNGRY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 50 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 50 workings within 5 miles of Squirrel Mountain Valley: 24 past producers, 11 occurrences, 7 producers, 5 prospects. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Tungsten, Molybdenum, Uranium. 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
Black JackLead, ZincPast ProducerReplacement
Black JackZinc, Lead, TinProducer
Black JackLead, ZincPast Producer
Cook Peak DepositStone, DimensionPast Producer
Fidgie GroupTungsten, MolybdenumOccurrenceMolybdenite, Powellite, Scheelite
French GulchGold, SilverPast Producer
Isabella Readimix PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Jenette-Grant MineGold, Antimony, Copper, Tin, ZincPast Producer
Laurel Group of MinesCopper, Zinc, Gold, SilverPast ProducerReplacement
Laurel MineGold, Zinc, Silver, CopperPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern 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
Mountain Mesa1.1 miles28
South Lake2.5 miles28
Lake Isabella3.4 miles28
Scovern Hot Springs (historical)3.4 miles28
Isabella (historical)3.5 miles28
Bodfish5.0 miles28
Bella Vista5.0 miles28
Keyesville5.4 miles25

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 Squirrel Mountain ValleyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2554100The 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 1661499. 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.