Weldon, California
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the Lake Isabella census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93283. It stands on Kelso Creek. The Survey maps it on the Weldon quadrangle. 2,303 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,654 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1906 to 1978The same ground, surveyed 72 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresWeldon fell from 2,642 to 2,303 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2,642 | |
| 2020 | 2,303 | -339 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 28 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.
- 1906 USGS Kernville quadrangle1:125000
- 1908 USGS Kernville quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1943 USGS Isabella quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1943 USGS Isabella Dam quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS Bakersfield quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Weldon quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1978 USGS Isabella Lake quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
131 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 131 fires within 5 miles of Weldon between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,128 acres in total. 12 started naturally. 6 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 | 70 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 15 |
| Natural | 12 |
| Debris and open burning | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Fireworks | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 6 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.4 acres | Central California District | FORK |
| 30 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
| 3 September 1997 | Natural | under an acre | Central California District | ONYX |
| 25 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 24 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Central California District | UNNAMED FIRE 0974 |
| 21 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Central California District | UNNAMED FIRE 0261 |
| 20 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kern County Fire Department | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 18 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Weldon: 6 occurrences, 6 past producers, 4 prospects, 2 unknowns. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Tungsten, Manganese, Limestone, General, Copper. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kennedy Minerals Co. Deposit | Limestone, General | Past Producer | ||
| Last Chance Mine | Tungsten, Copper | Past Producer | Chalcopyrite, Scheelite | |
| O. K. Claim | Manganese | Occurrence | Rhodonite | |
| Ok Prospect | Manganese | Prospect | 1935 | |
| B and F Mine | Tungsten | Past Producer | Scheelite | |
| B and F Mine | Tungsten | Past Producer | ||
| Bright Star | Tungsten | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Bright Star Prospect | Tungsten | Prospect | ||
| High Enough Prospect | Tungsten | Occurrence | Scheelite | |
| High Enough Prospect | Tungsten | Prospect |
Storms near this place
4 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Weldon in 4 storm reports between 2005 and 2023: 2 flood, 1 heavy rain, 1 flash 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2023 | Flood | Weldon | - | California Highway Patrol reported flooding at the intersection of Kelso Valley Rd. and Kelso Creek Rd. resulting in the closures of both roads. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Weldon | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the intersection of Kelso Creek Rd. and Kelso Valley Rd. south of Weldon. |
| February 2005 | Heavy Rain | Weldon | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Flash Flood | Weldon | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bella Vista | 1.9 miles | 28 | |
| Onyx | 4.1 miles | 28 | |
| South Lake | 4.5 miles | 28 | |
| Mountain Mesa | 6.4 miles | 28 | |
| Squirrel Mountain Valley | 7.0 miles | 28 | |
| Kernville (historical) | 8.4 miles | 28 | |
| Isabella (historical) | 9.1 miles | 28 | |
| Canebrake | 9.1 miles | 28 |
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 Weldon | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q929048 | 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 255860. 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.











