Calaveras County, California

County of Calaveras
—  County  —
Calaveras County view
Seal
Location in the state of California
California's location in the United States
Country	United States
State	California
Region	Sierra Nevada/Gold Country
Incorporated	1850
County seat	San Andreas
Largest settlement	Rancho Calaveras
Area
– Total	1,036.84 sq mi (2,685.4 km2)
– Land	1,020.04 sq mi (2,641.9 km2)
– Water	16.81 sq mi (43.5 km2)
Population (2010)
– Total	45,578
– Density	44/sq mi (17/km2)
Time zone	Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
– Summer (DST)	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Website	www.co.calaveras.ca.us

Calaveras County is a county located in the Gold Country of the U.S. state of California. Calaveras is named for the Spanish word for skulls; the county was reportedly named for the remains of Native Americans discovered by the Spanish explorer Captain Gabriel Moraga. As of the 2010 census, the county had a population of 45,578. The county seat is San Andreas. Angels Camp is the only incorporated city.

Calaveras Big Trees State Park, a preserve of Giant Sequoia trees, is located in the county several miles east of the town of Arnold on state highway 4. The uncommon gold telluride mineral calaverite was discovered in the county in 1861, and is named for it.

Mark Twain set his story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", in the county. Each year, the county hosts a County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee, featuring a frog-jumping contest, to celebrate the association with Twain's story. The California Red-legged Frog, feared extinct in the county by 1969, was rediscovered in 2003.

History

Calaveras County was one of the original counties of the state of California, created in 1850 at the time of admission to the Union. Parts of the county's territory were reassigned to Amador County in 1854 and to Alpine County in 1864.

The Spanish word calaveras means "skulls." The county takes its name from the Calaveras River; it was said to have been named by Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga when he found many skulls of Native Americans along the banks of the stream. He believed they had either died of famine or been killed in tribal conflicts over hunting and fishing grounds. In fact, the human remains were of the native Miwuk people killed by Spanish soldiers after they banded together to rise against Spanish missionaries. The Stanislaus river is named for Estanislau a coastal Miwuk who escaped from Mission San Jose in the late 1830s. He is reported to have raised a small group of men with crude weapons, hiding in the foothills when the Spanish attacked. The Miwuk were quickly decimated by Spanish gunfire. The writer Mark Twain spent many of his writing years in the county. Its geography includes beautiful landmarks, rolling hills, and giant valleys. It is also known for its friendly communities, and businesses such as agriculture management and construction engineering. It has numerous caverns, such as Mercer Caverns, that are national destinations for tourists from across the country.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,036.84 square miles (2,685.4 km²), of which 1,020.04 square miles (2,641.9 km²) (or 98.38%) is land and 16.81 square miles (43.5 km²) (or 1.62%) is water.^[1] A California Department of Forestry report lists the county's area in acres as 663,000, although the exact figure would be 663,477.949 acres (2,685.00000 km²). There are a number of caverns located in Calaveras County.

California Caverns - Calaveras County

Cities and towns

Angels Camp Arnold Avery Copperopolis Dorrington Forest Meadows Glencoe Mokelumne Hill Mountain Ranch Murphys Rail Road Flat Rancho Calaveras San Andreas Sheep Ranch Vallecito Valley Springs Wallace West Point

Former Settlements

• Camanche
• Cat Camp
• Poverty Bar
• Sand Hill

Special Districts

Special districts in Calaveras County include:

• Altaville Cemetery District
• Altaville-Melones Fire District
• Angels Camp Fire District
• Bret Harte Union High School District
• Calaveras County Air Pollution Control District
• Calaveras Unified School District
• Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
• Copperopolis Fire Protection District
• Ebbetts Pass Fire Protection District
• Foothill Fire District
• Jenny Lind Fire District
• Mark Twain Union Elementary School District
• Mokelumne Hill Fire District
• Murphys Fire District
• San Andreas Fire District
• Vallecito Union Elementary School District
• Valley Springs Public Utilities District
• West Point Fire District.^[2]

Adjacent counties

• Stanislaus County, California - southwest
• San Joaquin County, California - west
• Amador County, California - north
• Alpine County, California - northeast
• Tuolumne County, California - south, southeast

National protected areas

• Stanislaus National Forest (part)

Transportation Infrastructure

Major highways

• State Route 4
• State Route 12
• State Route 26
• State Route 49

Public transportation

Calaveras Transit provides service in Angels Camp, San Andreas, and other communities in the county. Intercounty connections are available to Columbia (Tuolumne County), Jackson (Amador County) and Lodi (San Joaquin County)

Airports

Calaveras County Airport is a general aviation airport located just southeast of San Andreas.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	16,884		—
1860	16,299		−3.5%
1870	8,895		−45.4%
1880	9,094		2.2%
1890	8,882		−2.3%
1900	11,200		26.1%
1910	9,171		−18.1%
1920	6,183		−32.6%
1930	6,008		−2.8%
1940	8,221		36.8%
1950	9,902		20.4%
1960	10,289		3.9%
1970	13,585		32.0%
1980	20,710		52.4%
1990	31,998		54.5%
2000	40,554		26.7%
2010	45,578		12.4%
[3][4][5]

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Calaveras County had a population of 45,578. The racial makeup of Calaveras County was 40,522 (88.9%) White, 383 (0.8%) African American, 689 (1.5%) Native American, 571 (1.3%) Asian, 79 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 1,534 (3.4%) from other races, and 1,800 (3.9%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4,703 persons (10.3%).^[6]

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)
Calaveras County	45,578	40,522	383	689	571	79	1,534	1,800	4,703
Incorporated city	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Angels Camp	3,836	3,329	12	48	49	5	270	123	498
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)
Arnold	3,843	3,590	20	28	46	3	60	96	259
Avery	646	604	5	7	3	1	2	24	38
Copperopolis	3,671	3,318	31	43	36	12	83	148	454
Dorrington	609	576	0	2	11	1	1	18	33
Forest Meadows	1,249	1,198	0	4	14	0	7	26	60
Mokelumne Hill	646	571	3	12	4	0	26	30	66
Mountain Ranch	1,628	1,472	15	33	18	2	15	73	123
Murphys	2,213	2,045	9	17	7	10	82	43	223
Rail Road Flat	475	411	0	15	4	2	9	34	41
Rancho Calaveras	5,325	4,645	48	102	87	13	195	235	670
San Andreas	2,783	2,453	23	48	28	1	83	147	255
Vallecito	442	398	0	6	11	1	5	21	33
Valley Springs	3,553	3,047	35	39	70	6	179	177	454
Wallace	403	347	3	4	10	2	22	15	32
West Point	674	563	0	43	2	7	29	30	67
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)	13,582	11,955	179	238	171	13	466	560	1,397

2000

As of the census^[7] of 2000, there were 40,554 people, 16,469 households, and 11,742 families residing in the county. The population density was 40 people per square mile (15/km²). There were 22,946 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile (9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.19% White, 0.75% Black or African American, 1.74% Native American, 0.85% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 2.07% from other races, and 3.31% from two or more races. 6.82% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 15.7% were of German, 13.0% English, 10.7% Irish, 7.4% Italian and 7.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.5% spoke English and 4.0% Spanish as their first language.

There were 16,469 households out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 23.3% 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 2.44 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 22.4% from 25 to 44, 31.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,022, and the median income for a family was $47,379. Males had a median income of $41,827 versus $28,108 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,420. About 8.7% of families and 11.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.6% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Major Employers

The major Calaveras County employers include:

250-499 employees:

• Bear Valley Ski Area^[8]

• Forestry & Fire Protection
• Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital

100-249 employees:

• Bret Harte High School
• Ironstone Vineyards
• Calaveras High School
• Mark Twain Convalescent Hospital
• Mountain Machinery^[9]

Government and politics

Calaveras County vote
by party in presidential elections

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2008	55.1% 12,835	42.2% 9,813	3.3% 773
2004	60.9% 13,601	37.1% 8,286	2.0% 456
2000	56.2% 10,599	37.6% 7,093	6.3% 1,184
1996	48.1% 8,279	38.6% 6,646	13.3% 2,281
1992	35.4% 6,006	35.3% 5,989	29.4% 4,996
1988	56.3% 7,640	41.8% 5,674	1.9% 260
1984	64.3% 7,632	34.4% 4,081	1.4% 164
1980	58.9% 6,054	29.9% 3,076	11.1% 1,145
1976	49.1% 3,695	47.9% 3,607	3.0% 226
1972	60.8% 4,119	33.5% 2,268	5.8% 392
1968	52.2% 3,042	36.6% 2,134	11.3% 656
1964	41.6% 2,244	58.3% 3,145	0.2% 8
1960	52.6% 2,820	46.8% 2,509	0.6% 32
1956	57.9% 2,843	41.7% 2,049	0.4% 17
1952	61.7% 3,112	37.4% 1,890	0.9% 46
1948	46.8% 1,888	49.4% 1,995	3.8% 154
1944	43.2% 1,455	56.2% 1,893	0.6% 21
1940	40.4% 1,649	58.9% 2,405	0.7% 29
1936	27.2% 960	71.3% 2,520	1.5% 54
1932	29.0% 754	67.1% 1,744	3.9% 101
1928	53.8% 1,262	45.4% 1,066	0.8% 18
1924	39.4% 872	15.06% 333	45.5% 1,006
1920	64.0% 1,480	27.7% 641	8.3% 193

Calaveras is part of California's 3rd congressional district, which is held by Dan Lungren.

In the State Assembly, Calaveras is part of the 25th district, which is held by Kristin Olsen. In the State Senate, Calaveras is part of the 1st district, which is held by Ted Gaines.

Past presidential elections in Calaveras County have displayed preferences for Republican candidates; the last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964, although Democrat Bill Clinton lost the county by only 17 votes in 1992. By contrast, recent elections have seen a sharp upswing in Democratic voter registrations.

Calaveras County is governed by a five member Board of Supervisors.[1]

See also

• USS Calaveras County (LST-516)
• List of school districts in Calaveras County, California
• Calaveras Big Trees State Park
• Mercer Caverns
• Moaning Cavern
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Calaveras County, California

References

1. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
2. ^ "Largest Calaveras County Employers". infoUSA. January 2008. http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/majorer/countymajorer.cfm?CountyCode=000009. Retrieved 2008-03-10. 
3. ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/ca190090.txt
4. ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov
5. ^ http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/
6. ^ "2010 Census P.L. 94-171 Summary File Data". United States Census Bureau. http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/01-Redistricting_File--PL_94-171/California/. 
7. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
8. ^ "Bear Valley Ski Resort Home Page". Bear Valley Ski Resort. January 2008. http://www.bearvalley.com. Retrieved 2008-03-12. 
9. ^ "Calaveras County Largest Employers". usaINFO. January 2008. http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/majorer/countymajorer.cfm?CountyCode=000009. Retrieved 2008-03-10. 

Sources

• "Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit: 2005 Pre-Fire Management Plan September 28, 2005 Edition," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 09-28-2005, pp. 16, 17
• US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

External links

• MyCalaveras: Search Calaveras County businesses, services, organizations and communities
• Calaveras County government services
• Angels Camp, Calaveras County, weather
• Arnold, Calaveras County, weather
• Calaveras County Visitors Bureau

Coordinates: 38°13′N 120°33′W / 38.21°N 120.55°W / 38.21; -120.55