BlockBefore

Valley Ford, California

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Sebastopol census division. It lies in ZIP code area 94972. It stands on Ebabias Creek. The Survey maps it on the Valley Ford quadrangle. 148 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 52 feet above sea level.

Valley Ford within Sonoma County

Then and now

1935 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 48 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Valley Ford, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Valley Ford, surveyed 1935

Population over time

2 figures

Valley Ford grew from 147 to 148 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
2010147
2020148+1 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 18 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

130 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 130 fires within 5 miles of Valley Ford between 1992 and 2020, burning about 373 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 3 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/undetermined51
Equipment and vehicle use43
Debris and open burning20
Misuse of fire by a minor5
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Arson/incendiarism3
Smoking2
Natural1

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
8 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionHWY 1 JENNER
8 September 2004Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitBARNETT
7 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitHWY, CDF TAC 6 4
7 September 1998Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitHIGHWAY 1
5 September 2002Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitBARNETT
4 September 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitBARNETT
30 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitVALLEY FORD RD BLOOMFI 4
3 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionROBLAR RD BLOOMFIELD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sonoma County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Valley Ford: 2 producers, 1 past producer, 1 unknown, 1 occurrence. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Mercury. 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
Unnamed ProspectMercuryUnknown
Unnamed ProspectMercuryOccurrence
Bloomfield Quarry and MillStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Hagemann Ranch QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Martinoni QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Sonoma County

Storms near this place

10 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Valley Ford in 10 storm reports between 2015 and 2025: 10 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
February 2025FloodValley Ford-Both lanes of California Route 1 were reported as submerged under water at Valley Ford Road.
February 2024FloodValley Ford-A vehicle was stuck in a flooded roadway on Valley Ford Road.
January 2020FloodValley Ford-Roadway flooding on SR-1 and Johns Street.
January 2019FloodValley Ford-Roadway flooding at SR 1 and Valley Ford Rd.
February 2019FloodValley Ford-CHP reports driver stuck in flooded road at Hwy 1 and Valley Ford Rd.
February 2019FloodValley Ford-Roadway flooding 13200 Valley Ford Rd.
February 2019FloodValley Ford-Roadway flooding, SR 1 and Johns St.
February 2019FloodValley Ford-CHP reports that there is flooding and a severe traffic alert on CA-1 between Petaluma Valley Ford and Middle Rd in Valley Ford. All lanes remain closed in both directions.
February 2017FloodValley Ford-Roadway flooding reported at Freestone Valley Ford Rd and SR-1.
February 2015FloodValley Ford-Roadway flooding reported by law enforcement.

Every storm recorded in Sonoma 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
Bodega3.2 miles18
Freestone3.8 miles18
Bloomfield3.9 miles17
Knowles Corner6.2 miles17
Occidental6.3 miles20
Bodega Bay6.7 miles17
Alten7.6 miles20
Camp Meeker7.6 miles20

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 Valley FordAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q920538The 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 236972. 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.