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Sunset Beach, California

40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the North Coast census division. It lies in ZIP code area 90742. It lies near Hog Island. The Survey maps it on the Seal Beach quadrangle.

Sunset Beach within Orange County

Then and now

1896 to 1981

The same ground, surveyed 85 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Sunset Beach, surveyed 1981
Topographic sheet of Sunset Beach, surveyed 1896

Compare 1896 against another survey:

On record in Sunset Beach

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 within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Topographic sheets covering this place

16 surveys from 40 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

129 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 129 fires within 5 miles of Sunset Beach between 2000 and 2020, burning about 30 acres in total. None started naturally. 16 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/undetermined76
Arson/incendiarism16
Equipment and vehicle use15
Smoking13
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Debris and open burning2

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
3 September 2006Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
25 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
24 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
18 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
13 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
11 September 2006Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 August 2018Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 August 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Orange County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Sunset Beach: 3 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Huntington Beach Asphalt and RockSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
La Bolsa Tile Co.ClayPast Producer
Long Beach Brick CoClayPast ProducerSedimentary
Long Beach Brick Co.ClayPast Producer

Every working recorded in Orange County

Storms near this place

4 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sunset Beach in 4 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 3 rip current, 1 flood. The reports record 2 deaths. 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
July 2003Rip CurrentSunset Beach1 killedno account filed
May 2001Rip CurrentSunset Beach1 killedno account filed
November 2025FloodSunset Beach-Dept of Highways reported full closure of Highway 1 (Pacific Hwy) southbound lanes due to flooding.
July 1999Rip CurrentSunset Beach-Two men in their 20's were rescued after being caught in a rip current.

Every storm recorded in Orange 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
Huntington Harbour0.4 miles40
Surfside1.1 miles40
Seal Beach2.6 miles42
Leisure World3.7 miles47
Ocean View Estates3.7 miles40
Wintersburg3.8 miles47
Barber City3.8 miles45
Sugar (historical)4.0 miles47

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1661532. 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.