North Fork (formerly Brown's and Northfork;

Mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

wa?ahhpY', "cedar grove") is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in

Madera County Madera County (), officially the County of Madera, is a county at the geographic center of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 156,255. The county seat is Madera. Madera County comprises the Madera, CA Metr ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

it had a population of 3,250. It is part of the Madera

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

. The

Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California The North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Mono Native Americans. North Fork Rancheria is the name of the tribe's reservation, which is located in Madera County, California.Pritzker, 137 Nim is their ...

maintains their tribal headquarters in North Fork.

Geography

North Fork is located in the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

at an elevation of . It is north-northeast of

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, northeast of Madera, and by road southeast of Oakhurst. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the North Fork CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.14%, are water. The community is drained by Willow Creek and by its North Fork and South Fork. Willow Creek is a south-flowing tributary of the

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...

. The

geographic center In geography, the centroid of the two-dimensional shape of a region of the Earth's surface (projected radially to sea level or onto a geoid surface) is known as its geographic centre or geographical centre or (less commonly) gravitational centre. I ...

or midpoint of the state of California is located between North Fork and Italian Bar. The point is about driving distance from the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

office in North Fork. The location is marked by a sign and a survey marker. NAD83 coordinates for the exact center of California are The

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populous city in Cali ...

line is less than one mile (1.6 km), (straight-line distance), from the site's survey marker. The actual site has wooden stairs leading up the hillside about 50 feet from the road. The marker is not wheelchair accessible.

Climate

North Fork has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Cfa'') with cool, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. Its average annual precipitation is . Its

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

is 7b.

History

The town's original inhabitants were members of the

Mono tribe The Mono ( ) are a Native American people who traditionally live in the central Sierra Nevada, the Eastern Sierra (generally south of Bridgeport), the Mono Basin, and adjacent areas of the Great Basin. The Eastern mono is often grouped under th ...

, who still comprise a significant portion of the population (9.4% according to the 2000 Census). The town was originally named "Brown's" after its first white settler, Milton Brown. The name "North Fork" came from the North Fork Lumber Company. The North Fork post office opened in 1888. In the 1950s, it became a lumber town. North Fork's economy was based on the timber industry until the local lumber mill closed in 1996. The US Forest Service Crane Valley Hotshots, an elite crew of wildland firefighters, are based in North Fork.

Points of interest

North Fork is home of the Sierra Mono MuseumSierra Mono Museum
accessed 7/9/2012 and the starting point of the

Sierra Vista Scenic Byway The Sierra Vista Scenic Byway is an route through the Sierra National Forest in the U.S. state of California. Many examples of the Sierra’s most distinctive granite domes, meadows and glacial valleys can be seen along the way. The Sierra Vista ...

. The town boasts two coffee shops, one grocery store, three restaurants (one of which is part of the town's bar) with another coming and one gas station.

Notable people

Edmund Kemper Edmund Emil Kemper III (born December 18, 1948) is an American serial killer who murdered a total of 10 people, including a 15-year-old girl, as well as his own mother and her best friend, from May 1972 to April 1973, following his parole for m ...

, then 15 years old, shot his grandparents to death at a ranch in 1964 * Jeff King, four-time champion of the

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of between 12 a ...

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute ...

, director, spent much of his youth on his grandparents ranch in North Fork

References

* "Center Of California" #608, ''California's Gold,'' Huell Howser Productions, 1995.

External links

North Fork Chamber of Commerce

North Fork Community Development Council

California's Gold (1991–2012) - Center of California (released August 6, 1995)
{{Authority control Census-designated places in California Census-designated places in Madera County, California Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Madera County, California