Sylmar, California
40 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the San Fernando Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 91342. It lies near Schoolhouse Canyon. The Survey maps it on the San Fernando quadrangle.
Then and now
1900 to 1995The same ground, surveyed 95 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1900 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
19 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.
- 1900 USGS Fernando quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1900 USGS San Fernando quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1925 USGS Sylmar quadrangle1:24000
- 1928 USGS Sylmar quadrangle1:24000
- 1929 USGS Sylmar quadrangle1:24000
- 1935 USGS Sylmar quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1940 USGS San Fernando quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1945 USGS San Fernando quadrangle1:62500
- 1949 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS San Fernando quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1966 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS San Fernando quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1975 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1979 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:100000
- 1995 USGS San Fernando quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
441 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 441 fires within 5 miles of Sylmar between 1992 and 2020, burning about 28,360 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 69 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 | 200 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 97 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 69 |
| Fireworks | 14 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 14 |
| Debris and open burning | 14 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 12 |
| Smoking | 8 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Other causes | 5 |
| Natural | 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 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Angeles National Forest | PAXTON |
| 9 September 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Angeles National Forest | OLDS |
| 7 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Angeles National Forest | RANGE |
| 6 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Angeles National Forest | PICKUP |
| 6 September 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Angeles National Forest | not named |
| 4 September 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Angeles National Forest | KAGEL |
| 30 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Angeles National Forest | TRASH |
| 30 September 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Angeles National Forest | PAXTON |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 23 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 23 workings within 5 miles of Sylmar: 17 past producers, 5 prospects, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Asbestos, Granite, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacoima Hill Quarry | Granite, Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Walker Ranch Placers | Gold | Prospect | ||
| Wragg Ranch Deposit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Fiber Queen | Asbestos | Past Producer | Metamorphic | |
| Fiber Queen | Asbestos | Past Producer | ||
| Baughman Deposit | Limestone, General | Prospect | ||
| Baughman Dolomite | Limestone, General | Occurrence | Sedimentary | |
| San Fernando | Limestone, General | Past Producer | ||
| San Fernando Deposit | Limestone, General | Prospect | ||
| Turner | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Sedimentary |
Storms near this place
3 since 2025Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sylmar in 3 storm reports between 2025 and 2026: 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sylmar | - | Strong thunderstorm winds, gusting to 70 MPH, were reported at the Sombrero Road sensor. |
| February 2025 | Flash Flood | Sylmar | - | Heavy rain produced flash flood and mudflows across the westbound lanes of Highway 210 in the Santa Clarita Valley. Mud flowing across the highway resulted in numerous vehicles sliding across the highway. |
| February 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sylmar | - | A thunderstorm wind gust of 66 MPH was reported at Sombrero Road. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olive View | 1.2 miles | 40 | |
| San Fernando | 1.9 miles | 38 | |
| Rancho Cascades | 2.4 miles | 40 | |
| Pacoima | 3.3 miles | 38 | |
| Mission Hills | 3.6 miles | 38 | |
| Hickson (historical) | 3.6 miles | 38 | |
| El Merrie Dell | 3.8 miles | 41 | |
| Kagel Canyon | 4.1 miles | 41 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1661539. 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.


















