Nevada County, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008) |
| Nevada County, California | |
 |
|
| Map | |
 Location in the state of California |
|
 California's location in the U.S. |
|
| Statistics | |
| Founded | 1851 |
|---|---|
| Seat | Nevada City |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
974 sq mi (2,523 km²) 958 sq mi (2,481 km²) 17 sq mi (44 km²), 1.73% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
92,033 96/sq mi (37/km²) |
| Website: www.mynevadacounty.com | |
Nevada County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California, in the Mother Lode country. As of 2000 its population was 92,033. The county seat is Nevada City.
Contents |
[edit] History
Nevada County was created in 1851 from parts of Yuba County.
The county was named after the mining town of Nevada City, a name derived from the term "Sierra Nevada." The word nevada in Spanish means "snowy" or "snowcovered."[1]
[edit] Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 974 square miles (2,524 km²), of which, 958 square miles (2,480 km²) of it is land and 17 square miles (44 km²) of it (1.73%) is water.
The western part of the county is defined by the course of several rivers and the irregular boundaries of adjoining counties. When the county was created, the founders wanted to include access to the transcontinental railroad, so a rectangular section was added that includes the railroad town of Truckee. What is remarkable about this is that the final shape of the county closely resembles the Deringer pocket pistol, a favorite at the time of the more urbane residents of this gold rush county.
[edit] National protected areas
- Tahoe National Forest (part)
- Toiyabe National Forest (part)
[edit] Cities and towns
[edit] Cities over 10,000 population
[edit] Cities under 10,000 population
[edit] Towns over 10,000 population
Although the "Town of Truckee" is a legally incorporated city within California, it should be listed as a city, not a town.
[edit] Towns under 10,000 population
- Alta Sierra - a subdivision
- Birchville
- Boreal
- Cedar Ridge
- Cherokee
- Chicago Park
- French Corral
- Graniteville
- Kingvale
- Lake Wildwood - a gated subdivision
- Lake of the Pines - a gated subdivision
- Norden
- North Bloomfield
- North Columbia
- North San Juan
- Ophir Hill
- Peardale
- Penn Valley
- Pleasant Valley
- Rough & Ready
- Sebastopol
- Spenceville
- Soda Springs
- Sweetland
- Washington
[edit] Adjacent counties
- Placer County, California - south
- Yuba County, California - west
- Sierra County, California - north
- Washoe County, Nevada - east
 |
Sierra County |
|
|||||
| Yuba County |  |
Washoe County, Nevada | |||||
 Nevada County, California  |
|||||||
 |
|||||||
| Placer County |
[edit] Transportation Infrastructure
[edit] Major highways
.svg){kind=small}
[edit] Public Transportation
- Gold Country Stage runs bus service in Grass Valley, Nevada City, Cedar Ridge and Colfax. A connection is available between Grass Valley and Auburn (Placer County).
- Tahoe Area Rapid Transit, operated by Placer County, has a route connecting Truckee with Lake Tahoe and the state of Nevada. Truckee also has its own local bus service.
- Greyhound and Amtrak stop in Truckee and Colfax.
[edit] Airports
Nevada County Air Park is a general aviation airport located just east of Grass Valley.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 92,033 people, 36,894 households, and 25,936 families residing in the county. The population density was 96 people per square mile (37/km²). There were 44,282 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.39% White, 0.28% Black or African American, 0.88% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 1.94% from other races, and 2.64% from two or more races. 5.65% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 16.4% were of German, 16.3% English, 11.1% Irish, 6.8% Italian and 6.6% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.0% spoke English and 4.2% Spanish as their first language.
There were 36,894 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the county the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $45,864, and the median income for a family was $52,697. Males had a median income of $40,742 versus $27,173 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,007. About 5.5% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.5% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Politics
| Year | GOP | DEM | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 46.2% 25,663 | 51.5% 28,617 | 2.3% 1336 |
| 2004 | 53.4% 28,790 | 44.9% 24,220 | 1.7% 910 |
| 2000 | 54.8% 25,998 | 37.2% 17,670 | 8.0% 3,811 |
| 1996 | 50.4% 22,784 | 35.6% 15,369 | 14.0% 6,066 |
| 1992 | 39.2% 17,343 | 34.9% 15,433 | 25.9% 11,425 |
| 1988 | 57.8% 21,383 | 40.5% 14,980 | 1.8% 660 |
| 1984 | 62.4% 19,809 | 35.2% 11,198 | 2.4% 761 |
| 1980 | 57.9% 15,207 | 29.0% 7,605 | 13.1% 3,449 |
| 1976 | 48.4% 8,170 | 46.9% 7,926 | 4.67 785 |
| 1972 | 54.7% 8,004 | 38.9% 5,693 | 6.4% 941 |
| 1968 | 51.4% 6,061 | 39.1% 4,607 | 9.5% 1,126 |
| 1964 | 43.3% 4,899 | 56.5% 6,397 | 0.2% 22 |
| 1960 | 53.4% 5,419 | 45.7% 4,633 | 0.9% 89 |
As of April 21, 2009, there are 25,601 registered Republicans, 21,548 registered Democrats, and 12,184 Declined to State voters in Nevada County. The American Independent and Green Parties have under 2,000 registered voters each. In the 2008 General Election Barack Obama carried the County with 51.5%-46.2% margin.
Nevada County is part of California's 4th congressional district, which is held by Republican Tom McClintock. In the state legislature, Nevada County is represented by Sam Aanestad (Rep) of the 4th Senate District and Dave Cox (Rep) of the 1st Senate District. Dan Logue (Rep) holds the seat for the 3rd Assembly District.
On November 4, 2008 Nevada County voted for Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages, by 3 votes.
[edit] Interesting facts
In 1850 Nevada City was the first to use the word "Nevada" as its name. In 1851 the newly formed Nevada County mimicked the name when it was created from a portion of Yuba County. The State of Nevada used the name 10 years later in 1861.
The World's First Long-Distance Telephone Line - The first long-distance telephone in the world, built in 1877 by the Ridge Telephone Company, connected French Corral with French Lake, 58 miles away. It was operated by the Milton Mining Company from a building on this site that had been erected about 1853. Location of CA Monumnet 247 is on Pleasant Valley Rd, in center of community of French Corral.
The Pelton wheel, designed to power gold mines, still drives hydro-electric generators today.
Nevada City and Grass Valley were among the first California towns with electric lights.
Lyman Gilmore, a contemporary of the Wright Brothers, developed early powered aircraft and operated the world's first commercial air field in Grass Valley. There is also evidence he may have flown before the Wright brothers.
Charles Litton Sr., a resident and entrepreneur of Nevada County, assisted Raytheon in the development of the magnetron tube.
Atari developed its first home computer video games in Nevada County.
The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad was built in 1876, and was the only railroad in the West that was never robbed, even though its primary freight was gold. (Builder-owner John Flint Kidder's reputation made it clear that he would personally hunt down and kill anyone who tried.) The rail line closed in 1942 and was torn up for scrap.
The Olympics, NASA, and virtually every television station around the country utilizes video/broadcasting equipment designed and manufactured by Grass Valley Group, founded in Grass Valley.
Electronic medical dosing equipment was first developed and manufactured in Nevada County.
The first commercially viable picture-phone was developed in Nevada City.
In February 2009, the historic Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley was announced to be closing. The hotel opened in 1851 and housed Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and four U.S. presidents (U.S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, and James A. Garfield.
More than fifty high tech and applied tech companies, and more than one thousand hardware and software design and development professionals call Nevada County home. The county is sometimes referred to as the "Silicon Valley of the Sierras".
The arcade video game was born in Nevada County. [1]
The Community of Rough and Ready seceded from the Union for a time and became the Great Republic of Rough and Ready.
Current home of controversial National Football League star Ricky Williams.
The former actor and television announcer Edwin W. Reimers resided in Nevada City at the time of his death in 1986.
[edit] Books
- Bean, E. F. (1867). Bean's History and directory of Nevada county, California ... With sketches of the various towns and mining camps ... Also full statistics of mining and all other industrial resources. Nevada, Cal.: Printed at the Daily Gazette Book and Job Office.
- Wells, H. L. (1880). History of Nevada County, California with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and manufactories. Oakland, CA: Thompson & West.
- Nevada County Promotion Committee. (1904). Nevada County, California: the most prosperous mining county of the United States, where good mines are found in a country with a pereect [sic climate and all the comforts of civilization]. [Nevada City, Calif.]: Nevada County Promotion Committee.
- Nevada County (Calif.). (1915). Nevada County, state of California: the home of deep producing gold mines and prolific fruit orchards. Grass Valley, Calif: Union Pub. Co.
- Wyckoff, R. M. (1962). Hydraulicking: a brief history of hydraulic mining in Nevada County, California. Nevada City, Calif: Osborn/Woods.
- True, G. H. (1973). The ferns and seed plants of Nevada County, California. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences.
- Foley, D., Kelly, L., & Book, S. (1975). The Maidu Indians of Nevada County, California.
- Pastron, A. G., Walsh, M. R., & Clewlow, C. W. (1990). Archaeological and ethnohistoric investigations at CA-NEV-194, near Rough and Ready, Nevada County, California. Archives of California prehistory, no. 31. Salinas, CA: Coyote Press.
- Comstock, D. A. (1998). Catalog of historical landmarks and dedicated sites in Nevada County, California. NCHS books. Nevada City, Calif: Nevada County Historical Society.
- Comstock, D. A., & Comstock, A. H. (1999). Nevada County vital statistics, 1850-1869 (and up to 1876 for divorces): births, marriages, separations, divorces, naturalizations, and deaths in Nevada County, California, as compiled from county records, cemeteries, newspapers, letters, diaries, and family records, plus a list of clergymen who served in Nevada County during those same years. Nevada County pioneers series, v. 1. Grass Valley, Calif: Comstock Bonanza Press.
- Comstock, D. A. (2004). News and advertising in the early gold camps of Nevada County, California: Volume one - 1850 through 1852. Grass Valley, Calif: Comstock Bonanza Press.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Nevada County History". US Gen Web Project in California. http://www.cagenweb.com/nevada/nchistory.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-01.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||
