BlockBefore

Tehachapi, California

27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Tehachapi census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93561. The Survey maps it on the Tehachapi North quadrangle. 12,939 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,970 feet above sea level.

Tehachapi within Kern County

Then and now

1915 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 77 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Tehachapi, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Tehachapi, surveyed 1915

Compare 1915 against another survey:

On record in Tehachapi

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 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Tehachapi fell from 14,414 to 12,939 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
201014,414
202012,939-1,475 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 27 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

155 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 155 fires within 5 miles of Tehachapi between 1992 and 2020, burning about 6,230 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 17 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/undetermined84
Equipment and vehicle use20
Misuse of fire by a minor18
Arson/incendiarism17
Debris and open burning5
Natural5
Smoking3
Recreation and ceremony2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined35 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
9 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined35 acresKern County Fire DepartmentVISTA
9 September 2012Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
6 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
5 September 2017Natural5.0 acresCentral California DistrictWATER
4 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.1 acresKern County Fire Departmentnot named
4 September 2011Equipment and vehicle use3,128 acresCalifornia Desert DistrictCANYON
28 September 2006Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 19 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 19 workings within 5 miles of Tehachapi: 12 past producers, 5 producers, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Tungsten, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold. 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
Got RocksStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Monolith Cement PlantCalciumProducer
Pine Tree MineGold, TungstenPast Producer
Summit Lime Co.Tungsten, GoldOccurrenceGold, Scheelite
TehachapiMercuryProducer
Tehachapi Lake Clay DepositClayPast Producer
Pine TreeGoldProducer
Pine TreeGold, TungstenPast Producer
Summit Lime Co.TungstenPast ProducerVein
Summit Lime QuarryLimestone, General, TungstenProducer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

25 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tehachapi in 25 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 6 heavy rain, 5 flood, 4 flash flood, 3 wildfire. 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
August 1997WildfireTehachapi$200,0001151 acres of grassland and forest were destroyed.
November 1997Thunderstorm WindTehachapi$80,000Thunderstorm wind, aided by terrain channeling up a mountain side, lifted a patio deck subsequently pulling the roof off from a house southwest of Stallion Springs. The damage was very localized, but totally demolishing one house. Small hail occurred with the thunderstorm passage as reported by a couple of witnesses.
August 2000LightningTehachapi$10,000Thunderstorm activity again occurred for many of the desert and mountain areas of Interior Central California. With frequent lightning activity occurring, a lightning strike was reported to have caused a car fire in the Tehachapi area of the Kern County Mountains. There were no injuries reported.
July 2003Flash FloodTehachapi$5,000Highline Road southwest of Tehachapi in the Kern County Mountains was closed due to flooding over the roadway in the late afternoon/early evening of the 31st.
September 1997LightningTehachapi$5,000Lightning strike from early morning thunderstorm activity.
April 2003Heavy RainTehachapi$1,000no account filed
August 2023FloodTehachapi-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding on Sand Canyon Rd. north of SR 58.
August 2022FloodTehachapi-Broadcast media report of street flooding in downtown Tehachapi as the result of heavy rainfall.
August 2022Heavy RainTehachapi-A HADS station 6NE Tehachapi measured 1.52 inches of rainfall from a thunderstorm in two hours.
August 2022Heavy RainTehachapi-The KRN02 RAWS 3S Tehachapi measured 0.66 inches of rainfall from a thunderstorm in two hours.
January 2017FloodTehachapi-California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at Highway 58 and State Route 202 near Tehachapi.
June 2015Flash FloodTehachapi-Over two inches of rain fell over Tehachapi during the afternoon of the 12th. This resulted in a mud/debris flow near highway 58 and highway 202 in the center of Tehachapi, which closed the roadway for a couple of hours.
February 2005HailTehachapi-Hail varying from 3/4 to 1" was reported at Alpine Forest southwest of Tehachapi in the Kern County Mountains.
July 2003WildfireTehachapi-The Hillside Fire along Highway 58 and fought by Kern County Fire Department burned 1830 acres. Its cost and cause are unknown but there were no structures or lives lost.
July 2003WildfireTehachapi-The Mercury Fire was fought by the Kern County Fire Department and it burned 300 acres. Its cause was human and no costs are known. There were no structures or lives lost in the fire.
February 2000FloodTehachapi-Local road flooding with debris deposited on the roadway occurred in the Tehachapi Valley along Highline Road.
February 2006Heavy RainTehachapi-no account filed
April 2005Heavy RainTehachapi-no account filed
October 2005Heavy RainTehachapi-no account filed
August 2003Flash FloodTehachapi-no account filed
August 2003Flash FloodTehachapi-no account filed
May 2000High WindTehachapi-no account filed
August 2000HailTehachapi-no account filed
July 1999LightningTehachapi-no account filed
July 1999FloodTehachapi-no account filed

Every storm 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
Summit1.9 miles27
Mountain Meadows2.0 miles26
Golden Hills2.3 miles27
Sullivan (historical)2.3 miles27
Old Town2.5 miles27
Cable2.9 miles27
Monolith4.0 miles27
Marcel5.4 miles27

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 TehachapiAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q985253The 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 1652798. 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.