Terra Cotta, California
38 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Elsinore Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92530. It lies near Bishop Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Lake Elsinore quadrangle.
Then and now
1901 to 1997The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1901 against another survey:
Topographic sheets covering this place
15 surveys from 38 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.
- 1901 USGS Elsinore quadrangle1:125000, 8 printings
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1942 USGS Lake Elsinore quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Elsinore quadrangle1:24000, 6 printings
- 1953 USGS Lake Elsinore quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Elsinore quadrangle1:24000
- 1983 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:100000
- 1997 USGS Lake Elsinore quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
1,169 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,169 fires within 5 miles of Terra Cotta between 1992 and 2020, burning about 26,108 acres in total. 13 started naturally. 96 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 | 523 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 237 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 117 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 96 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 68 |
| Smoking | 49 |
| Debris and open burning | 36 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 18 |
| Natural | 13 |
| Fireworks | 5 |
| Firearms and explosives use | 4 |
| Other causes | 3 |
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 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Cleveland National Forest | VILLAGE |
| 9 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Riverside Unit | LOCAL |
| 9 September 1998 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Riverside Unit | STATE-1415 |
| 9 September 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 acres | California Desert District | ESTELLE FIRE |
| 8 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Riverside Unit | EUCALYPTUS AV LELS |
| 8 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Riverside Unit | E LAKESHORE DR LELS |
| 7 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | RICE |
| 7 September 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Riverside Unit | TOWNSEND ST /W SUMNER AV |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 63 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 63 workings within 5 miles of Terra Cotta: 29 past producers, 14 prospects, 9 occurrences, 8 producers. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Tin. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberhill Coal & Clay Co. | Clay, Coal | Past Producer | ||
| American Flag and Monarch Mines | Tin, Cobalt, Nickel | Unknown | ||
| Best Ranch Deposit | Limestone, General | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Best Ranch Deposit | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Old Dominion Mine | Lead, Zinc, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Ortega | Lead, Zinc, Silver, Copper, Gold | Past Producer | Galena, Pyrite, Silver, Sphalerite | |
| Palisades Group | Lead, Copper, Silver, Gold | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Riverside Co. Gravel Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Robinhood No. 4 | Manganese | Prospect | ||
| Shining Star Group | Arsenic, Gold, Iron | Occurrence |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Elsinore | 2.1 miles | 38 | |
| Alberhill | 2.1 miles | 37 | |
| Lake Elsinore | 3.5 miles | 38 | |
| Lakeland Village | 4.7 miles | 38 | |
| Camelot Hills | 4.9 miles | 40 | |
| Santa Rosa Ranch Estates | 5.4 miles | 40 | |
| Canyon Lake | 5.5 miles | 38 | |
| Gavilan Hills | 5.6 miles | 40 |
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 Terra Cotta | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7703072 | The 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 1661558. 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.














