Tuolumne County, California

County of Tuolumne
—  County  —
The Tuolumne County Courthouse in Sonora
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	Sonora
Area
– Total	5,890.5 km2 (2,274.34 sq mi)
– Land	5,789.7 km2 (2,235.41 sq mi)
– Water	100.8 km2 (38.93 sq mi)
Population (2010)
– Total	55,365
– Density	9.4/km2 (24.3/sq mi)
Time zone	Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
– Summer (DST)	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Website	www.co.tuolumne.ca.us

Gold specimen from Tuolumne County

Tuolumne County ( /tuːˈɒləmiː/ "To All o' Me", with a silent N) is a county in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. The northern half of Yosemite National Park is located in the eastern part of the county. As of the 2010 census, the population was 55,365, up from 54,501 at the 2000 census. The county seat is Sonora, the county's only incorporated city.

History

Tuolumne County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Prior to statehood, it had been referred to as Oro County. Parts of the county were given to Stanislaus County in 1854 and to Alpine County in 1864.

The name Tuolumne is of Native American origin and has been given different meanings, such as Many Stone Houses, The Land of Mountain Lions and, Straight Up Steep, the latter an interpretation of William Fuller, a native Chief. Mariano Vallejo, in his report to the first California State Legislature, said that the word is "a corruption of the Indian word talmalamne which signifies 'cluster of stone wigwams.'" The name may mean "people who dwell in stone houses," i.e., in caves.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 2,274.34 square miles (5,890.5 km²), of which 2,235.41 square miles (5,789.7 km²) (or 98.29%) is land and 38.93 square miles (100.8 km²) (or 1.71%) is water.^[1] A California Department of Forestry document reports Tuolumne County's 1,030,812 acres (4,171.55 km²) include federal lands such as Yosemite National Park, Stanislaus National Forest, Bureau of Land Management lands, and Indian reservations. Notable landforms in the county include Table Mountain.

Cities and towns

Incorporated city and county seat

• Sonora

Census-designated places (CDPs)

• Cedar Ridge
• Chinese Camp
• Cold Springs
• Columbia
• East Sonora
• Groveland
• Jamestown
• Long Barn
• Mi-Wuk Village
• Mono Vista
• Phoenix Lake
• Pine Mountain Lake
• Sierra Village
• Soulsbyville
• Strawberry
• Tuolumne City
• Tuttletown
• Twain Harte

Other unincorporated communities

• Blanchard
• Buchanan
• Bumblebee
• Confidence
• Dardanelle
• Deadwood
• Groveland-Big Oak Flat
• Mather
• Moccasin
• Phoenix Lake-Cedar Ridge
• Pinecrest
• Standard

Special Districts

Special districts in Tuolumne County include:

• Belleview Elementary School District
• Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District
• Chinese Camp Elementary School District
• Columbia Fire District
• Columbia Union Elementary School District
• Curtis Creek Elementary School District
• Groveland Community Services District
• Jamestown Elementary School District
• Jamestown Fire District
• Mi-Wuk Fire District
• Sonora Elementary School District
• Sonora Union High School District
• Soulsbyville Elementary School District
• Strawberry Fire District
• Summerville Elementary School District
• Summerville Union High School District
• Tuolumne County Air Pollution Control District
• Tuolumne County Water District No. 1
• Tuolumne Fire District
• Tuolumne Regional Water District
• Tuolumne Utilities District
• Twain Harte Fire District
• Twain Harte-Long Barn Union Elementary School District
• Yosemite Community College District

Adjacent counties

• Alpine County, California - north
• Calaveras County, California - northwest
• Stanislaus County, California - southwest
• Mariposa County, California - south
• Madera County, California - southeast
• Mono County, California - east
• Merced County, California - southwest by a corner

National protected areas

• Stanislaus National Forest (part)
• Yosemite National Park (part)

Transportation Infrastructure

Major highways

• California State Route 49
• California State Route 108
• California State Route 120

Public transportation

Tuolumne County Transit bus routes radiate from Sonora to serve most of the county. In Columbia, a connection can be made to Calaveras County Transit. Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS) serves the Tuolumne Meadows portion of Yosemite National Park, however, there is no direct connection between Tuolumne County Transit and YARTS.

Airports

Columbia Airport and Pine Mountain Lake Airport are both general aviation airports.

Demographics

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Tuolumne County had a population of 55,365. The racial makeup of Tuolumne County was 48,274 (87.2%) White, 1,143 (2.1%) African American, 1,039 (1.9%) Native American, 572 (1.0%) Asian, 76 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 2,238 (4.0%) from other races, and 2,023 (3.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5,918 persons (10.7%).^[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)
Tuolumne County	55,365	48,274	1,143	1,039	572	76	2,238	2,023	5,918
Incorporated cities and towns	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Sonora	4,903	4,402	24	95	79	12	84	207	542
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)
Cedar Ridge	1,132	1,066	3	6	5	1	5	46	71
Chinese Camp	126	92	0	7	0	0	16	11	25
Cold Springs	181	175	1	3	1	0	0	1	4
Columbia	2,297	2,064	27	26	29	1	27	123	171
East Sonora	2,266	2,129	7	16	32	1	35	46	152
Groveland	601	542	2	9	9	2	17	20	49
Jamestown	3,433	2,948	20	96	27	4	135	203	511
Long Barn	155	140	1	3	0	0	5	6	13
Mi-Wuk Village	941	871	5	17	3	0	11	34	71
Mono Vista	3,127	2,796	6	58	38	8	61	160	300
Phoenix Lake	4,269	3,991	15	40	50	3	51	119	305
Pine Mountain Lake	2,796	2,596	18	25	24	7	21	105	183
Sierra Village	456	421	3	7	3	1	7	14	36
Soulsbyville	2,215	2,038	3	41	13	2	38	80	206
Strawberry	86	82	0	0	0	0	1	3	7
Tuolumne City	1,779	1,547	13	83	12	1	50	73	206
Tuttletown	668	613	5	14	5	1	12	18	48
Twain Harte	2,226	2,026	5	34	31	4	46	80	171
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)	21,708	17,735	985	459	211	28	1,616	674	2,847

2000

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 54,501 people, 21,004 households, and 14,240 families residing in the county. The population density was 9/km² (24/mi²). There were 28,336 housing units at an average density of 5/km² (13/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 89.45% White, 2.10% Black or African American, 1.82% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 2.89% from other races, and 2.84% from two or more races. 8.16% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 94.7% spoke English and 3.5% Spanish as their first language.

There were 21,004 households out of which 26.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.40% were married couples living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.20% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.70% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 27.90% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 111.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,725, and the median income for a family was $44,327. Males had a median income of $35,373 versus $25,805 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,015. About 8.10% of families and 11.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.20% of those under age 18 and 4.00% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Presidential election results

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2008	55.2% 14,700	42.5% 11,319	2.3% 620
2004	60.0% 15,745	38.5% 10,104	1.5% 386
2000	55.5% 13,172	39.4% 9,359	5.0% 1,196
1996	47.3% 10,386	40.7% 8,950	12.0% 2,636
1992	35.3% 8,525	38.1% 9,216	26.6% 6,437
1988	54.0% 10,646	44.2% 8,717	1.8% 352
1984	58.1% 10,485	40.4% 7,283	1.6% 283
1980	54.9% 8,810	33.9% 5,449	11.2% 1,804
1976	46.9% 6,104	49.9% 6,492	3.1% 407
1972	54.3% 5,894	42.3% 4,596	3.4% 366
1968	47.5% 4,330	42.9% 3,913	9.6% 876
1964	36.6% 2,861	63.2% 4,939	0.3% 20
1960	49.1% 3,691	50.3% 3,781	0.6% 44

Tuolumne is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win the county was Bill Clinton in 1992. Tuolumne is part of California's 19th congressional district, which is held by Republican Jeff Denham. In the state legislature Tuolumne is in the 25th Assembly district, which is held by Republican Kristin Olsen, and the 14th Senate district, which is held by Republican Tom Berryhill.

In the 2008 presidential election, 14,988 votes were counted for John McCain with now president Barack Obama receiving 11,532 votes. [1]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Tuolumne 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. 

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.
• US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
• CNN News, "Local and National Election Results - Election Center 2008", CNN News, November, 2008.

External links

• The County of Tuolumne's Official Web Site
• Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority's Web Site

Coordinates: 38°01′N 119°56′W / 38.02°N 119.94°W / 38.02; -119.94