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Whitney Portal, California

32 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Lone Pine census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93545. It stands on Meysan Creek. The Survey maps it on the Mount Langley quadrangle. It stands 8,374 feet above sea level.

Whitney Portal within Inyo County

Then and now

1907 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 87 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Whitney Portal, surveyed 1994
Topographic sheet of Whitney Portal, surveyed 1907

Topographic sheets covering this place

15 surveys from 32 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

31 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 31 fires within 5 miles of Whitney Portal between 1993 and 2018, burning about 3,112 acres in total. 15 started naturally. None 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
Natural15
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Recreation and ceremony5
Debris and open burning1

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
21 September 2014Naturalunder an acreInyo National ForestGEORGES
6 August 1994Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreInyo National Forestnot named
3 August 1993Naturalunder an acreInyo National Forestnot named
3 August 1993Naturalunder an acreInyo National Forestnot named
27 August 2004Debris and open burningunder an acreCentral California DistrictDUMPSTER
1 August 2018Naturalunder an acreSequoia & Kings Canyon National ParksSOLDIER
1 August 1996Naturalunder an acreInyo National ForestGEORGE
8 July 2018Natural2,941 acresInyo National ForestGEORGES

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Inyo County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Whitney Portal: 6 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Gold, Silver. 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
Dream ClaimSilverOccurrence
Lucky VelsparGoldOccurrence
Sierra No. 1 ProspectGold, SilverOccurrence
Queen Elizabeth ProspectCopperOccurrence
Unnamed OccurrenceCopperOccurrence
Unnamed OccurrenceCopperOccurrence

Every working recorded in Inyo 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
Alabama Hills7.4 miles34
Lone Pine8.7 miles34
Owenyo11.4 miles32
Bartlett12.9 miles30
Manzanar12.9 miles32
Alico14.0 miles28
Seven Pines14.0 miles34
Reward14.2 miles32

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 Whitney PortalAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7996736The 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 1660174. 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.