Palmdale history:

Palmdale is a city located in the north-central reaches of Los Angeles County, California, United States.

The first community within the Antelope Valley to incorporate as a city (on August 24, 1962), Palmdale is separated from Los Angeles by the San Gabriel Mountain range. As of the 2000 US census, the city population was 116,670, and as of January 1, 2010, the California state department of finance estimates Palmdale proper has a total population of 152,622. According to the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance report of 2009 the Palmdale / Lancaster, CA Urbanized Area (a US Census Bureau defined term) has a population of 476,845.

Downtown Palmdale is located at 34°34′46″N 118°07′00″W / 34.57944°N 118.1166667°W / 34.57944; -118.1166667, at an elevation of 2,655 feet (809 m) above sea level.

According to the United States Census Bureau the city has a total area of 105.1 square miles (272.2 km²), of which, 104.59 square miles (271.8 km²) of it is land and 0.15 square miles (0.4 km²) of it is water (the size of man-made Lake Palmdale, the most visible and scenic part of the municipal water supply system) . The total area is 0.13% water.

The city lies in close proximity to the San Andreas Fault, making it, like many other regions of California, prone to strong earthquakes. This faultline cuts across the Antelope Valley Freeway just north of the Avenue S off-ramp; running westward along the old Butterfield Stage Line (now Elizabeth Lake Road) into Leona Valley.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_California