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Willow Creek, California

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Willow Creek-Hoopa Valley census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95573. It stands on Willow Creek. The Survey maps it on the Willow Creek quadrangle. 1,720 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 610 feet above sea level.

Willow Creek within Humboldt County

Then and now

1915 to 1997

The same ground, surveyed 82 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Willow Creek, surveyed 1997
Topographic sheet of Willow Creek, surveyed 1915

Compare 1915 against another survey:

Population over time

2 figures

Willow Creek grew from 1,710 to 1,720 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
20101,710
20201,720+10 (+1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 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

258 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 258 fires within 5 miles of Willow Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 572 acres in total. 14 started naturally. 57 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/undetermined57
Arson/incendiarism57
Recreation and ceremony40
Debris and open burning32
Equipment and vehicle use23
Natural14
Smoking10
Fireworks8
Power generation/transmission/distribution7
Misuse of fire by a minor6
Other causes4

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 2017Naturalunder an acreSix Rivers National ForestMORTON
8 September 2001Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSix Rivers National ForestCINNABAR
8 September 1996Arson/incendiarismunder an acreSix Rivers National ForestKATY
6 September 2000Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSix Rivers National ForestLIBERTY
5 September 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acreHoopa Valley TribeMILE POST 8
4 September 2006Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreSix Rivers National ForestWILLOW
4 September 2002Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresSix Rivers National ForestSTORAGE
30 September 2012Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreHumboldt-Del Norte UnitBRANHAM

Every fire recorded in Humboldt County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 48 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 48 workings within 5 miles of Willow Creek: 14 producers, 12 unknowns, 12 occurrences, 9 past producers. 14 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Platinum, Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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
Hammer PropertyGold, Platinum, Osmium, IridiumProducerStream Placer
HendersonGold, PGEUnknown
Koon RanchGold, Platinum, Osmium, Iridium, Iron, Rhodium, Nickel, Copper, Ruthenium, PalladiumProducerStream Placer
Macintosh MineGold, Osmium, Ruthenium, Palladium, Rhodium, IridiumProducerStream Placer
Macintosh MineOsmium, Ruthenium, Gold, Iridium, RhodiumUnknown
Salyer Pit & MillSilicaProducer
Ammon QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Leaning Tree No. 2ManganeseOccurrence1942
Leaning Tree No. 2 ClaimManganeseOccurrence1942
Three Creeks LimestoneLimestone, DimensionOccurrence

Every working recorded in Humboldt County

Storms near this place

6 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Willow Creek in 6 storm reports between 2003 and 2024: 5 heavy rain, 1 hail. 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
January 2017Heavy RainWillow Creek$1,750,000Landslide and slope failure along Highway 299 near mile post 30.
February 2024Heavy RainWillow Creek-Landslide completely blocking Highway 299 west of Salyer.
December 2022Heavy RainWillow Creek-Heavy rain initiated an active landslide across one lane of HWY 299 west of Willow Creek.
December 2022Heavy RainWillow Creek-Heavy rain caused rock and mud to slide.
December 2019Heavy RainWillow Creek-California Highway Patrol reported a mudslide on Highway 299 mile marker 32 west of Willow Creek.
August 2003HailWillow Creek-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Humboldt 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
Hoopa8.0 miles16
Janes Place11.3 miles19
Fernwood12.6 miles15
Dinsmores16.2 miles21
Pekwuteu (historical)17.3 miles16
Ertlerger (historical)17.3 miles16
Maple Creek17.6 miles15
Weitchpec17.6 miles16

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 Willow CreekAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3242429The 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 1660182. 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.