BlockBefore

Willits, California

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1922 and the latest in 1991. It stands in the Willits census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95490. It stands on Haehl Creek. The Survey maps it on the Willits quadrangle. 4,988 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,391 feet above sea level.

Willits within Mendocino County

Then and now

1922 to 1991

The same ground, surveyed 69 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Willits, surveyed 1991
Topographic sheet of Willits, surveyed 1922

Compare 1922 against another survey:

On record in Willits

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 5 records

Population over time

2 figures

Willits grew from 4,888 to 4,988 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
20104,888
20204,988+100 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 16 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

296 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 296 fires within 5 miles of Willits between 1992 and 2020, burning about 597 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 18 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/undetermined113
Debris and open burning54
Equipment and vehicle use46
Misuse of fire by a minor21
Arson/incendiarism18
Railroad operations and maintenance11
Natural9
Smoking9
Power generation/transmission/distribution7
Recreation and ceremony6
Other causes2

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
7 September 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMendocino UnitWELL
7 September 2007Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresMendocino UnitPOPPY 3
5 September 2015Railroad operations and maintenance1.6 acresMendocino UnitSUMMIT
5 September 1992Equipment and vehicle use2.0 acresMendocino UnitP. G. & E. #12
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionFANBLADE
4 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMendocino UnitPOPPY
30 September 1999Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMendocino UnitSMITH
3 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMendocino UnitTULIP

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Mendocino County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Willits: 8 producers, 4 prospects, 2 occurrences, 1 unknown. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Manganese, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Magnesite. 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
Southard RanchMagnesiteProducerMagnesite
Ford Canyon QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Willits QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
C A Haun and SonSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Longvale PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Longvale PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Willits Ready MixSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Coursey Bros.ManganeseProspect
Coursey Brothers ProspectManganeseProspect1917
Knight ProspectManganeseProspect1942

Every working recorded in Mendocino County

Storms near this place

6 since 2022

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Willits in 6 storm reports between 2022 and 2025: 5 flood, 1 heavy rain. 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 2025FloodWillits-Central Valley Road reported as flooded in Willits.
December 2022FloodWillits-East Barbara Lane Bridge at Railroad Avenue was closed due to flooding.
September 2022Heavy RainWillits-CoCoRaHS report of 2.58 inches of rain in 45 minutes. 1 to 2 inches of water was observed on the Willits Bypass which stopped traffic. Water quickly subsided after the thunderstorm.
December 2022FloodWillits-Walnut Street between Locust Street and Poplar Avenue was closed due to flooding.
December 2022FloodWillits-The corner of East Commercial Street and Lenmore Avenue was closed due to flooding.
December 2022FloodWillits-Eastbound E Valley Road was closed in Willits due to flooding.

Every storm recorded in Mendocino 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
Simerson0.8 miles16
Muir1.0 miles16
Upp1.2 miles16
DeCamp2.1 miles16
Fair Oaks2.3 miles16
Brooktrails2.8 miles15
Crowley3.7 miles15
Clare Mill3.9 miles15

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 WillitsAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2334435The 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 1652654. 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.