Plumas County, California

County of Plumas
—  County  —
Seal
Location in the state of California
California's location in the United States
Country	United States
State	California
Region	Sierra Nevada
Incorporated	1854
County seat	Quincy
Area
– Total	2,613 sq mi (6,767.6 km2)
– Land	2,554 sq mi (6,614.8 km2)
– Water	60 sq mi (155.4 km2)
Population (2010)
– Total	20,007
– Density	7.7/sq mi (3/km2)
Time zone	Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
– Summer (DST)	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Website	www.countyofplumas.com

Plumas County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. The county gets its name from the Spanish words for the Feather River (Río de las Plumas), which flows through the county. As of the 2010 census, the population 20,007, down from 20,824 at the 2000 census. The county seat is Quincy.

The only incorporated city in the county is Portola, several other populated places are CDPs.

History

The Spanish originally called one of the tributaries of the Sacramento River El Rio de las Plumas or the "River of Feathers." The Legislature, in creating this county, gave it the name "Plumas" because all of the numerous branches of the Feather River have their origins in its mountains.

Law and government

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 2,613.48 square miles (6,768.9 km²), of which 2,553.69 square miles (6,614.0 km²) (or 97.71%) is land and 59.78 square miles (154.8 km²) (or 2.29%) is water.^[1]

Plumas County has numerous lakes and streams which are renowned for their fishing. Outdoor activities are a major tourist draw. A small part of Lassen Volcanic National Park extends into the northwest corner of the county.

Cities and towns

Almanor American House Beckwourth Belden Blairsden Buckeye Bucks Lake Canyondam Caribou Cascade Chester Chilcoot-Vinton Clio Crescent Mills C-Road Cromberg Delleker Drakesbad East Quincy East Shore

Feather River Park Five Points Gate Place Genesee Graeagle Greenhorn Greenville Hamilton Branch Haven Hot Springs Indian Falls Iron Horse Johnsville Keddie La Porte Lake Almanor Country Club Lake Almanor Peninsula Lake Almanor West Lake Davis Little Grass Valley Longville Massack Meadow Valley

Mohawk Vista Palmetto Paxton Plumas Eureka Portola Prattville Prospect Quincy Rock Creek Seneca Sloat Spanish Ranch Spring Garden Storrie Taylorsville Tobin Twain Valley Ranch Whitehawk

Designated areas

• Butterfly Valley Botanical Area
• Elephants Playground
• Happy Valley
• Little Last Chance Canyon Special Interest Area
• North Valley
• Valley Creek Special Interest Area

Water areas

Antelope Lake Belden Forebay Bucks Lake (reservoir) Butt Lake Doyle Reservoir Eureka Lake Faggs Debris Dam

Faggs Reservoir Frenchman Lake Grizzly Forebay Grizzly Ice Pond Lake Almanor Lake Davis Little Grass Valley Reservoir Lower Bucks Lake Onion Valley Reservoir

Rock Creek Reservoir Round Valley Reservoir Silver Lake Slate Creek Reservoir Smith Lake Three Lakes Walker Mine Tailings Reservoir

Adjacent counties

• Sierra County, California - south
• Yuba County, California - southwest
• Butte County, California - west
• Tehama County, California - northwest
• Shasta County, California - northwest
• Lassen County, California - north, east

National protected areas

• Lassen National Forest (part)
• Lassen Volcanic National Park (part)
• Plumas National Forest (part)
• Tahoe National Forest (part)

Transportation Infrastructure

Major highways

• State Route 36
• State Route 49
• State Route 70
• State Route 89
• State Route 284

Public Transit

Plumas Transit Systems provides local service in Quincy and routes to Chester and Portola.

Airports

Gansner Field is a general aviation airport located near Quincy. Rogers Field is located near Chester; in addition to its civil-aviation role it also serves as the Chester Air Attack Base, a logistical & coordination facility for the California Department of Forestry's aerial firefighting (both fixed-wing and helicopter). Resources include fueling, retardant loading, communications, and some quartering for aircrew and ground fire-fighting teams. Nervino field is in Beckwourth, east of Portola.

Economy

Politics

Plumas County vote
by party in presidential elections

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2008	54.8% 6,035	42.8% 4,715	3.1% 343
2004	61.7% 6,905	36.9% 4,129	1.4% 156
2000	61.0% 6,343	33.3% 3,458	5.8% 600
1996	50.3% 4,905	36.3% 3,540	13.4% 1,305
1992	36.2% 3,599	37.6% 3,742	26.2% 2,608
1988	51.1% 4,603	47.2% 4,251	1.8% 161
1984	56.6% 5,224	41.6% 3,837	1.8% 167
1980	51.2% 4,182	35.7% 2,911	13.1% 1,068
1976	43.9% 2,884	52.3% 3,429	3.8% 250
1972	46.4% 2,952	48.1% 3,057	5.5% 351
1968	37.4% 2,097	52.8% 2,961	9.9% 553
1964	29.5% 1,686	70.4% 4,019	0.1% 8
1960	37.5% 2,015	62.0% 3,333	0.6% 30
1956	41.9% 2,267	57.8% 3,127	0.4% 21
1952	43.5% 2,687	55.6% 3,435	1.0% 61
1948	32.8% 1,657	61.8% 3,125	5.5% 276
1944	30.0% 1,126	69.8% 2,625	0.2% 8
1940	26.8% 1,270	72.1% 3,418	1.1% 52
1936	19.8% 680	78.8% 2,707	1.4% 48
1932	21.7% 582	75.8% 2,035	2.5% 67
1928	45.6% 947	52.0% 1,079	2.4% 49
1924	32.9% 564	10.6% 182	56.5% 967
1920	64.0% 999	25.8% 403	10.2% 160

Plumas County is currently a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in presidential elections in the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976, although Bill Clinton won with a plurality in 1992.

Plumas County is part of California's 4th congressional district, which is currently held by Republican Tom McClintock, replacing John Doolittle who stepped down from his seat due to the famous political-corruption scandal involving the convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In the state legislature, Plumas County is part of the 3rd Assembly district, which is held by Republican Dan Logue, and the 1st Senate District, which is held by Republican Ted Gaines.

On Nov. 4, 2008 Plumas County voted 60.0 % for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Demographics

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Plumas County had a population of 20,007. The racial makeup of Plumas County was 17,797 (89.0%) White, 192 (1.0%) African American, 539 (2.7%) Native American, 134 (0.7%) Asian, 18 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 603 (3.0%) from other races, and 724 (3.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,605 persons (8.0%).^[2]

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)
Plumas County	20,007	17,797	192	539	134	18	603	724	1,605
Incorporated cities	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Portola	2,104	1,762	13	54	12	1	198	64	342
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)
Almanor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Beckwourth	432	402	0	11	2	1	7	9	29
Belden	22	20	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Blairsden	39	38	0	0	0	0	1	0	2
Bucks Lake	10	7	0	0	1	0	0	2	3
C-Road	31	26	0	3	2	0	0	0	2
Canyondam	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Caribou	2,144	1,954	10	46	21	4	37	72	178
Chester	454	418	1	4	1	0	9	21	38
Chilcoot-Vinton	66	64	0	0	0	1	1	0	1
Clio	196	172	1	15	0	0	0	8	26
Crescent Mills	150	140	0	0	2	0	0	8	9
Cromberg	261	239	0	5	6	0	3	8	18
Delleker	705	503	7	23	3	0	133	36	186
East Quincy	2,489	2,174	79	43	15	0	32	146	161
East Shore	156	143	0	7	1	0	5	0	7
Gold Mountain	80	78	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Graeagle	737	718	1	5	0	0	3	10	27
Greenhorn	236	213	1	7	2	0	6	7	22
Greenville	1,129	897	1	133	11	0	17	70	109
Hamilton Branch	537	514	2	0	3	0	3	15	20
Indian Falls	54	50	0	0	1	0	1	2	4
Iron Horse	297	276	0	0	1	0	12	8	17
Johnsville	20	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Keddie	66	62	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
La Porte	26	24	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Lake Almanor Country Club	419	406	2	2	1	0	2	6	8
Lake Almanor Peninsula	356	337	0	9	0	0	4	6	22
Lake Almanor West	270	259	1	1	0	1	1	7	11
Lake Davis	45	45	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Little Grass Valley	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mabie	161	150	0	0	1	0	4	6	4
Meadow Valley	464	435	0	13	0	0	4	12	21
Mohawk Vista	159	146	0	1	7	0	1	4	4
Paxton	14	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Plumas Eureka	339	326	0	1	3	0	3	6	17
Prattville	33	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Quincy	1,728	1,500	37	29	19	2	66	75	132
Spring Garden	16	15	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Storrie	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Taylorsville	140	131	0	3	0	0	0	6	1
Tobin	12	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Twain	82	75	0	2	0	0	2	3	14
Valley Ranch	109	107	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
Warner Valley	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Whitehawk	113	107	0	0	1	0	1	4	2
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)	3,098	2,777	33	120	17	8	46	97	160

2000

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 20,824 people, 9,000 households, and 6,047 families residing in the county. The population density was 8 people per square mile (3/km²). There were 13,386 housing units at an average density of 5 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.78% White, 0.62% Black or African American, 2.55% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 1.81% from other races, and 2.61% from two or more races. 5.65% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 16.1% were of German, 15.0% English, 10.1% Irish and 8.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.4% spoke English and 3.6% Spanish as their first language.

There were 9,000 households out of which 26.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.40% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.80% were non-families. 27.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.77.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.70% under the age of 18, 6.00% from 18 to 24, 22.60% from 25 to 44, 30.80% from 45 to 64, and 17.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 99.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,351, and the median income for a family was $46,119. Males had a median income of $38,742 versus $25,734 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,391. About 9.00% of families and 13.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.70% of those under age 18 and 6.40% of those age 65 or over.

Media

The primary local news source since 1866 is Feather Publishing Co., Inc. at plumasnews.com. Four Plumas County newspapers are published every Wednesday, except for certain holidays.

Colleges and universities

• Feather River College

Miscellaneous topics (Sports teams and similar lists)

• The Feather River College Golden Eagle football team is one of the top-ranked junior college teams in Northern California.

• The town of Portola is home to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum, one of the largest railroad museums in North America. The WPRM is one of the major tourist draws in the county.

• The town of Chester is home to the Collins Pine Museum, a museum completed in 2007 and dedicated to educating the public about the history of the Collins Pine Company's (a division of The Collins Companies) logging operations in the Chester region.

See also

• Hiking trails in Plumas County
• List of school districts in Plumas County, California
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Plumas 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. ^ "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/. 
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

• Plumas County, California

External links

• Official County of Plumas website
• Plumas County News
• Discover Plumas County
• Plumas political entities

Coordinates: 40°01′N 120°50′W / 40.01°N 120.83°W / 40.01; -120.83