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Tomales, California

29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1995. It stands in the Northwest Marin census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94971. It stands on Keys Creek. The Survey maps it on the Tomales quadrangle. 187 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 89 feet above sea level.

Tomales within Marin County

Then and now

1916 to 1995

The same ground, surveyed 79 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Tomales, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet of Tomales, surveyed 1916

Compare 1916 against another survey:

On record in Tomales

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 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Tomales fell from 204 to 187 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
2010204
2020187-17 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 29 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

25 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Tomales between 1994 and 2020, burning about 25 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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
Equipment and vehicle use12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Arson/incendiarism1
Recreation and ceremony1
Debris and open burning1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
2 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionFORD
16 September 2008Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMarin County Fire DepartmentVALLEY FORD RD BLOOMFIEL
27 August 1994Equipment and vehicle use6.0 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitESTERO
23 August 2013Arson/incendiarismunder an acrePoint Reyes National SeashoreCYPRUS
21 August 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitMORO
20 August 1996Recreation and ceremonyunder an acrePoint Reyes National SeashoreHUT
15 August 2015Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa Unitnot named
9 July 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionFALLON TWO ROCK RD OOJ

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Marin County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Tomales: 2 occurrences, 2 producers, 1 unknown, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, General. 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
UnknownStone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, GeneralOccurrenceLimestone
Unnamed QuarryLimestone, General, Stone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Dillon Beach PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProspect
Martinoni QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Tomales PointGoldOccurrenceBeach Placer
Tomales PointGoldUnknown

Every working recorded in Marin County

Storms near this place

6 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tomales in 6 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 5 flood, 1 tornado. 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
December 1996Tornado (F1)Tomales$200,000no account filed
February 2024FloodTomales-Roadway flooding was reported on California Highway 1 at Tomales-Petaluma Road.
February 2019FloodTomales-Flooding at Shoreline Hwy intersection with Bay Rd, vehicle stalled in 2 feet of water in roadway.
February 2019FloodTomales-Vehicle stuck in water flooding lanes southbound CA-1 and Tomales Rd.
February 2019FloodTomales-Marin Fire Department is retrieving a driver stuck in the water at Hwy 1 and Tomales Rd.
January 2017FloodTomales-Closure of Hwy 1 at Tomales Rd due to flooding.

Every storm recorded in Marin 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
Fallon2.0 miles18
Ocean Roar2.3 miles29
Vincent Landing2.7 miles29
Hamlet2.9 miles29
Dillon Beach3.2 miles18
Nicks Cove3.3 miles29
Blakes Landing3.7 miles29
McDonald4.0 miles29

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 TomalesAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2203740The 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 236439. 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.