Ruby, Washington

9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1979. It stands in the East Whatcom census division. It stands on Happy Creek. The Survey maps it on the Ross Dam quadrangle. The federal gazetteer marks this settlement historical: it is no longer a populated place, though the surveys that recorded it still are.

Ruby within Whatcom County

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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.

1955 USGS Concrete quadrangle1:250000
1958 USGS Concrete quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1962 USGS Concrete quadrangle1:250000
1963 USGS Ross Dam quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
1979 USGS Mt. Baker quadrangle1:100000

Fires near this place

61 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 61 fires within 5 miles of Ruby (historical) between 1992 and 2019, burning about 2,726 acres in total. 33 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
Natural	33
Recreation and ceremony	22
Fireworks	2
Smoking	2
Equipment and vehicle use	1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	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 2019	Natural	under an acre	North Cascades National Park	LONE TREE
7 September 2019	Natural	under an acre	North Cascades National Park	SOURDOUGH STRIKE
4 September 2019	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	North Cascades National Park	SOURDOUGH
4 September 2011	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Ross Lake National Recreation Area	ROLAND CREEK
23 September 2011	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Ross Lake National Recreation Area	COLONIAL CREEK
20 September 2011	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	North Cascades National Park	MAY CREEK
1 September 1994	Natural	under an acre	North Cascades National Park	PYRAMID RG
1 September 1994	Natural	under an acre	North Cascades National Park	RUBY ARM

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Whatcom County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Ruby (historical): 6 occurrences, 2 past producers, 2 prospects, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Chromium, Strontium, Zinc, REE, Beryllium, Arsenic. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Locality 77	Gold, Zinc, REE, Beryllium, Arsenic	Occurrence
Locality 78	Copper, Zinc	Occurrence
Stray Horse No. 2 Claim	Gold, Silver, Copper	Prospect
Diablo	Chromium	Unknown
Diablo Claim	Chromium	Occurrence	Chromite
H.B. Brown Claim	Strontium	Occurrence
Ruby Creek Strontium	Strontium	Occurrence
Jackass Placer	Gold	Prospect
Scougale Placer	Gold	Occurrence
Scougale Placer	Gold	Past Producer	Stream Placer

Every working recorded in Whatcom 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Diablo	4.5 miles	8
Newhalem	10.7 miles	8
Anacortes Crossing	12.7 miles	7
Cedar Crossing	13.0 miles	8
Barron	18.4 miles	8
Boundary	34.0 miles	16
Glacier	48.0 miles	17
Warnick	50.4 miles	17

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1530572. 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.