Colusa County, California

County of Colusa
—  County  —
Seal
Location in the state of California
California's location in the United States
Country	United States
State	California
Region	Sacramento Valley
Incorporated	February 18, 1850
County seat	Colusa
Largest city	Colusa
Area
• Total	1,156.22 sq mi (2,994.6 km2)
• Land	1,150.68 sq mi (2,980.2 km2)
• Water	5.54 sq mi (14.3 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	21,419
• Density	Bad rounding here19/sq mi (Bad rounding here7.2/km2)
Time zone	Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Website	www.countyofcolusa.org

Colusa County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, northwest of state capital Sacramento. As of the 2010 census, its population was 21,419. The county seat is Colusa.

History

Colusa County is one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county's territory were given to Tehama County in 1856 and to Glenn County in 1891.

The county was named after the 1844 Rancho Colus Mexican land grant to John Bidwell. The name of the county in the original state legislative act of 1850 was spelled Colusi, and often in newspapers was spelled Coluse. The word is derived from the name of a Native American tribe living on the west side of the Sacramento River. The name was changed to Colusa shortly after^{[citation needed]}. This however is disputed. The actual origin of the name is unknown.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,156.22 square miles (2,994.6 km²), of which 1,150.68 square miles (2,980.2 km²) (or 99.52%) is land and 5.54 square miles (14.3 km²) (or 0.48%) is water. A large number of streams drain the county, including Elk Creek and Salt Creek.

The county's eastern boundary is formed, in part, by the Sacramento River.

Cities and other communities

There are two incorporated cities in Colusa County:

• Colusa
• Williams

There are seven census-designated places:

• Arbuckle
• College City
• Grimes
• Lodoga
• Maxwell
• Princeton
• Stonyford

Other unincorporated settlements include

• Sites

Adjacent counties

• Yolo County, California—south
• Lake County, California—west
• Glenn County, California—north
• Butte County, California—northeast
• Sutter County, California—east

National protected areas

• Butte Sink National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Colusa National Wildlife Refuge
• Delevan National Wildlife Refuge
• Mendocino National Forest (part)
• Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Politics

Colusa County vote
by party in presidential elections

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2012	60.0% 3,521	38.3% 2,248	1.6% 96
2008	58.1% 3,733	40.0% 2,569	2.3% 146
2004	67.2% 4,142	31.6% 1,947	1.3% 77
2000	64.9% 3,629	31.2% 1,745	3.9% 216
1996	54.3% 3,047	36.6% 2,054	9.1% 511
1992	45.9% 2,589	31.9% 1,798	22.2% 1,248
1988	59.5% 3,077	39.1% 2,022	1.4% 73
1984	65.3% 3,388	33.3% 1,725	1.5% 75
1980	58.0% 2,897	32.1% 1,605	9.9% 493
1976	52.7% 2,733	45.2% 2,340	2.1% 109
1972	57.6% 2,715	38.4% 1,810	4.1% 192
1968	51.6% 2,361	40.6% 1,858	7.8% 358
1964	39.3% 1,811	60.6% 2,790	0.1% 5
1960	51.4% 2,497	48.3% 2,348	0.3% 16
1956	53.2% 2,474	46.7% 2,171	0.1% 3
1952	59.8% 2,824	39.8% 1,881	0.4% 17
1948	46.2% 1,803	51.8% 2,020	2.0% 78
1944	42.9% 1,579	56.8% 2,090	0.3% 10
1940	39.7% 1,774	59.5% 2,655	0.8% 35
1936	28.2% 1,186	70.4% 2,965	1.5% 62
1932	27.5% 1,095	69.1% 2,752	3.4% 135
1928	56.3% 1,752	43.0% 1,338	0.7% 22
1924	43.8% 1,127	19.3% 495	36.9% 949
1920	61.2% 1,645	33.8% 907	5.0% 134

Colusa is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Colusa County is in California's 3rd congressional district, represented by Democrat John Garamendi.

In the State Assembly, Colusa County is split between the 3rd and 4th districts, represented by Republican Dan Logue and Democrat Mariko Yamada, respectively. In the State Senate, the county is in the 4th Senate District, represented by Republican Jim Nielsen.

On November 4, 2008 Colusa County voted 71.6% for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Transportation

Major highways

• Interstate 5
• State Route 16
• State Route 20
• State Route 45

Public transportation

Colusa County Transit runs buses from Colusa to Williams, Arbuckle, Grimes and College City, with limited service to Maxwell.

Airports

Colusa County Airport is a general-aviation airport located near the city of Colusa.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	115		—
1860	2,274		1,877.4%
1870	6,165		171.1%
1880	13,118		112.8%
1890	14,640		11.6%
1900	7,364		−49.7%
1910	7,732		5.0%
1920	9,290		20.2%
1930	10,258		10.4%
1940	9,788		−4.6%
1950	11,651		19.0%
1960	12,075		3.6%
1970	12,430		2.9%
1980	12,791		2.9%
1990	16,275		27.2%
2000	18,804		15.5%
2010	21,419		13.9%

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Colusa County had a population of 21,419. The racial makeup of Colusa County was 13,854 (64.7%) White, 195 (0.9%) African American, 419 (2.0%) Native American, 281 (1.3%) Asian, 68 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 5,838 (27.3%) from other races, and 764 (3.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11,804 persons (55.1%).

Population reported at 2010 United States Census
The County	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Colusa County	21,419	13,854	195	419	281	68	5,838	764	11,804
Incorporated cities	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Colusa	5,971	3,944	54	107	80	28	1,510	248	3,128
Williams	5,123	2,785	59	55	94	4	1,946	180	3,891
Census-designated places	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Arbuckle	3,028	1,746	18	23	18	5	1,124	94	2,116
College City	290	207	0	5	1	0	51	26	134
Grimes	391	284	7	3	1	0	65	31	258
Lodoga	197	167	16	4	2	2	3	3	8
Maxwell	1,103	734	11	14	9	2	306	27	570
Princeton	303	217	0	10	1	1	70	4	93
Stonyford	149	127	0	4	0	1	12	5	22
Unincorporated communities	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
All others not CDPs (combined)	4,864	3,643	30	194	75	25	751	146	1,584

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,804 people, 6,097 households, and 4,578 families residing in the county. The population density was 16 people per square mile (6/km²). There were 6,774 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 64.3% White, 0.6% Black or African American, 2.3% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.4% Pacific Islander, 26.7% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. 46.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 8.5% were of German, 5.6% English, 5.5% American and 5.4% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 58.7% spoke English and 40.4% Spanish as their first language.

There were 6,097 households out of which 41.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01 and the average family size was 3.51.

In the county the population was spread out with 31.6% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 103.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.8 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,062, and the median income for a family was $40,138. Males had a median income of $32,210 versus $21,521 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,730. About 13.0% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.5% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

See also

• List of school districts in Colusa County, California
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Colusa County, California
• Hiking trails in Colusa County
• Thomas D. Harp, mentions 1891 division of the county

External links

• Colusa County Official Website
• Colusa County Sun Herald
• Colusa County Guide