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.
Then and now
1896 to 1981The 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.


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.
- ELECTRA (motor yacht)listed 2023 · 0.6 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
16 surveys from 40 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.
- 1896 USGS Las Bolsas quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1935 USGS Seal Beach quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1941 USGS Las Bolsas quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1943 USGS Las Bolsas quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS San Pedro quadrangle1:125000
- 1949 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1949 USGS Seal Beach quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Seal Beach quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Seal Beach quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1974 USGS Seal Beach quadrangle1:24000
- 1981 USGS Long Beach quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
129 since 2000Regional 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/undetermined | 76 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 16 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 15 |
| Smoking | 13 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 2006 | Smoking | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 25 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 24 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 18 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 13 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 11 September 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 August 2018 | Smoking | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntington Beach Asphalt and Rock | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| La Bolsa Tile Co. | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Long Beach Brick Co | Clay | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Long Beach Brick Co. | Clay | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
4 since 1999Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2003 | Rip Current | Sunset Beach | 1 killed | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Rip Current | Sunset Beach | 1 killed | no account filed |
| November 2025 | Flood | Sunset Beach | - | Dept of Highways reported full closure of Highway 1 (Pacific Hwy) southbound lanes due to flooding. |
| July 1999 | Rip Current | Sunset Beach | - | Two men in their 20's were rescued after being caught in a rip current. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntington Harbour | 0.4 miles | 40 | |
| Surfside | 1.1 miles | 40 | |
| Seal Beach | 2.6 miles | 42 | |
| Leisure World | 3.7 miles | 47 | |
| Ocean View Estates | 3.7 miles | 40 | |
| Wintersburg | 3.8 miles | 47 | |
| Barber City | 3.8 miles | 45 | |
| Sugar (historical) | 4.0 miles | 47 |
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.















