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Tanforan, California

43 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the South San Francisco census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94080. It stands on Colma Creek. The Survey maps it on the San Francisco South quadrangle.

Tanforan within San Mateo County

Then and now

1892 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 103 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Tanforan, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Tanforan, surveyed 1892

Compare 1892 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

22 surveys from 43 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

339 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 339 fires within 5 miles of Tanforan between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,494 acres in total. None started naturally. 36 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/undetermined197
Arson/incendiarism36
Smoking36
Equipment and vehicle use32
Misuse of fire by a minor18
Debris and open burning9
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Recreation and ceremony4
Fireworks1

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 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
9 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined12 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionBRUNO
7 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined41 acresSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitCHESTNUT 2
7 September 2013Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitA1
7 September 2009Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2007Smokingunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in San Mateo County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 35 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 35 workings within 5 miles of Tanforan: 18 past producers, 17 producers. 17 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver, Lead, Zinc. 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 MountainGoldPast Producer
Black Mtn.GoldPast ProducerGold
Brisbane QuarryStoneProducer
Marine Magnes Div.MagnesiteProducer
Marine Magnes Div.MagnesitePast Producer
Marine Magnesium Co. Seawater PlantMagnesiteProducer
Marks Materials Inc.CalciumProducer
QuarryStoneProducer
QuarryStonePast Producer
RockawayCalciumProducer

Every working recorded in San Mateo County

Storms near this place

2 since 2019

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tanforan in 2 storm reports between 2019 and 2025: 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 2025FloodTanforan-Three to six inches of water covered Interstate 280 near Sneath Lane.
January 2019FloodTanforan-Lane submurged in water I 280N and I 380E connector.

Every storm recorded in San Mateo 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
San Bruno0.6 miles43
South San Francisco1.1 miles43
Baden1.4 miles43
Lomita Park1.6 miles43
Millbrae Meadows2.5 miles43
Westborough2.5 miles43
Brisbane3.0 miles43
Millbrae3.0 miles43

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.

Wikidata item Q122591992The 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 256019. 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.