Buttonwillow Union Elementary School District
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Buttonwillow is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California. Buttonwillow is west of
Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
, at an elevation of ). The population was 1,508 at the 2010 census, up from 1,266 at the 2000 census. The
center of population In demographics, the center of population (or population center) of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to different geogr ...
of California is located in Buttonwillow.


History

The town was originally called Buena Vista when it was founded in 1895, but the name quickly became Buttonwillow. Buttonwillow was named for the ''buttonbush'' ''( Cephalanthus occidentalis)''. A lone buttonbush served as a landmark on an old trans-valley trail and was used by ancient Yokuts Indian as a meeting place, later becoming the site of settlers' stock rodeos. The
Miller & Lux Henry Miller (July 21, 1827 – October 14, 1916) was a German-American rancher known as the "Cattle King of California" who at one point in the late 19th century was one of the largest land-owners in the United States. Life and work Born in ...
holdings company eventually established a headquarters and store near the tree. This tree is listed as California Historical Landmark No. 492. This landmark is now known as the Buttonwillow Tree. California Historical Landmark reads: :.NO. 492 BUTTONWILLOW TREE - This lone tree, which gave the town of Buttonwillow its name, served as a landmark on an old trans-valley trail. An ancient Yokuts Indian meeting place, it later became the site of settlers' stock rodeos. Miller and Lux established their headquarters and store here about 1885." The first United States Post Office at Buttonwillow was established in 1895.


Facilities

Buttonwillow is a major stop for motorists traveling on Interstate 5. It includes gas stations including (
Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
, Shell, Chevron, and
Arco ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...
), a McDonald's, a Carl's Jr., a drive-thru
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
, Willow Ranch BBQ restaurant, an Indian restaurant,
Subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Interconti ...
, a Mexican-Salvadoran restaurant, TravelCenters of America, Denny's, and Castro Tire & Truckwash. These are all at the exit of
State Route 58 The following highways are numbered 58: International * European route E58 Australia * Riverina Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 58 * Highway 58 (Ontario) * Saskatchewan Highway 58 Finland * Finnish national road 58 India * National Highw ...
. There is a large
electrical substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station and ...
next to the town that is a part of a major north–south transmission corridor. It marks the northern end of Path 26 across the Transverse Ranges and the southern end of the Path 15 power lines. Buttonwillow is the motel hub for members of the
Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...
's Cal Club region when they hold events at Cal Club-owned Buttonwillow Raceway Park – a
Super 8 Super 8 or Super Eight may refer to: Film * Super 8 film, a motion picture film format released in 1965 * Super 8 film camera, a motion picture camera used to film Super 8mm motion picture format * ''Super 8'' (2011 film), a science-fiction fi ...
, a Motel 6 and the Homeland Inn are the motels of note there. The town is also known for hosting the Best in the West jet rally, an annual gathering of model jet enthusiasts. Buttonwillow's main industry is cotton farming.


Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Buttonwillow has an area of , all of it land. Buttonwillow is also locally known as the cotton country, due to the abundant planting of cotton in the vicinity. Beginning about south of town along Elk Hills Road, between Buttonwillow and Taft, is the enormous Elk Hills Oil Field, formerly the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1, which figured prominently in the Teapot Dome scandal that tarnished the administration of President Warren G. Harding.
Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States, and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in the ...
bought the reserve from the
U.S. Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States. ...
in 1998, and is the current primary operator of the oil field.


Climate

Buttonwillow has a cold desert climate (
BWk The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
) typical of the southern part of
California's Central Valley The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast of the state. It covers ...
with hot, dry summers and cool winters.


Demographics


2010

At the 2010 census Buttonwillow had a population of 1,508. The population density was . The racial makeup of Buttonwillow was 534 (35.4%) White, 36 (2.4%) African American, 11 (0.7%) Native American, 10 (0.7%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 890 (59.0%) from other races, and 27 (1.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,183 persons (78.4%). The whole population lived in households, no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters and no one was institutionalized. There were 379 households, 225 (59.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 217 (57.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 64 (16.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 39 (10.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 36 (9.5%)
unmarried opposite-sex partnerships POSSLQ ( , plural POSSLQs) is an abbreviation (or acronym) for "Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters", a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of ...
, and 1 (0.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 46 households (12.1%) were one person and 29 (7.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.98. There were 320 families (84.4% of households); the average family size was 4.30. The age distribution was 561 people (37.2%) under the age of 18, 162 people (10.7%) aged 18 to 24, 428 people (28.4%) aged 25 to 44, 265 people (17.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 92 people (6.1%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 26.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.9 males. There were 406 housing units at an average density of 58.6 per square mile, of the occupied units 184 (48.5%) were owner-occupied and 195 (51.5%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.4%. 699 people (46.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 809 people (53.6%) lived in rental housing units.


2000

At the 2000 census there were 1,266 people, 328 households, and 270 families in the CDP. The population density was . There were 364 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 34.28% White, 3.79% Black or African American, 1.66% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 55.06% from other races, and 5.13% from two or more races. 68.40% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 328 households 56.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.6% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.4% were non-families. 15.2% of households were one person and 7.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.81 and the average family size was 4.25. The age distribution was 38.0% under the age of 18, 12.6% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 13.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% 65 or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.6 males. The median household income was $28,370 and the median family income was $29,716. Males had a median income of $19,514 versus $16,974 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $9,424. About 23.1% of families and 28.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.4% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.


Environment

Buttonwillow, California, is the host to one of California's three toxic waste dumps: the Lokern Facility. The facility, owned and operated by a company then known as Laidlaw Environmental, which subsequently became Safety-Kleen and was later purchased in 2012 by
Clean Harbors Clean Harbors, Inc. is an American provider of environmental and industrial services, including hazardous waste disposal for companies, including Fortune 500 companies, small waste generators and federal, state, provincial and local governments. ...
, lies west of the community.Cole, Luke W. and Sheila R. Foster. 2001. "From The Ground Up". New York University Press: New York, NY. It was created in the 1970s, without the notification of any of the county's residents. Furthermore, Highway 58, a busy road through the community, was used as the main route for trucks from the facility to transport toxic loads. At times, as many as 200 trucks would travel through the community per day. According to a study performed by Lisa Schweitzer, “transport spills
rom toxic waste transporters, such as trucks Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * R ...
generally cluster near origins more than destinations." In the study, Schweitzer observed the amount of toxic waste that is spilled during transportation and the area where spills are generally located. If intermodal facilities and transfer points are considered origins, Laidlaw Environmental would qualify. Furthermore, the hundreds of trucks that transport toxic loads travel in and out of the community every day. Given the results of Schweitzer's study, the residents of nearby communities (Buttonwillow, especially) are at the highest risk of experiencing side effects from the spills. Generally, spills occur as a result of human error, in which the load was packaged incorrectly or the driver experienced a vehicle accident or some other force which allowed for the leaking of toxins. It was nearly ten years before the residents of Buttonwillow became aware of the facility. Even then, residents felt as if they could do nothing to stop it. In 1988, Laidlaw Environmental proposed to build a toxic waste incinerator, which would burn up to of toxic waste each year. Then in 1992, the birth and death of a child with a physical defect— anencephaly—stirred suspicion from several residents. The tragedy created a bond between these residents, and they began to look to Laidlaw Environmental and the toxins that it released as the root of the issue. Also in 1992, Laidlaw Environmental proposed an expansion of its facility in Kern County. It wanted to double the dump's capacity, making it the largest in the United States. Furthermore, it wanted to change the types of chemicals it took from strictly petroleum waste to more than 450 different types of substances, many of which were highly toxic. According to Juanita Fernandez, a resident of Buttonwillow, those in attendance at the community meeting which discussed the proposed acts appeared to be businessmen and women who were mostly of a Caucasian background. The name of the committee in charge of the meeting was the Local Assessment Committee (LAC), which was formed in accordance with a law passed by California in the 1980s known as the Tanner Act. The law attempted to give county residents a say in the environmental occurrences and developments in their area. The LAC consisted of seven members, all of which met to discuss events and proposals such as those of Laidlaw Environmental. Despite the apparent effort, the rules and regulations of the LAC were not fairly implemented. Even though LAC meetings were held in Buttonwillow, there were no residents from Buttonwillow on the committee. Furthermore, no members were of a Latino descent, although nearly all of Buttonwillow's residents belonged to this demographic group. While many Buttonwillow residents attempted to participate in meetings, there was no one in attendance who was willing to translate for Spanish speakers. Because the majority of Buttonwillow residents predominantly spoke Spanish, their presence at the meetings had little influence. Finally, in June 1992, a Spanish translator was provided at the meetings. One month later, the Local Assessment Committee was suspended indefinitely. In September 1994, the committee was reinstated. During the two-year span, a draft and final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was designed for Laidlaw Environmental. The EIR, required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), “examines the potential environmental impacts of many projects such as toxic waste dumps”. In addition, speculation surrounded the decisions that were made in appointing new committee members. Many people believed the decisions were made based upon race rather than qualification. In fact, a white applicant was chosen over a Latino, even though this applicant had failed to submit their application. Because of the tension, the LAC decided to appoint a Latino member, Eduardo Montoya. After the application process, the LAC was told that it had ten weeks to convene and discuss the upcoming December hearing about the proposed expansion of Laidlaw Environmental. In this short amount of time, the LAC battled not with Laidlaw Environmental, but rather with the county. It appeared to many as if the county would not let the committee run their own meetings. The committee wanted control—the ability to set their own agenda and hire outside consultants. However, the county did not want to grant this authority to the LAC. Ten weeks later, in December, Laidlaw Environmental proceeded with the hearing and the Board of Supervisors disbanded the LAC. Montoya said that “the Board knew beforehand they would approve the dump” and that “they were just going through the motions”. A major divider in the struggle of Buttonwillow against Laidlaw Environmental was the issue of race. While the LAC could have spent time gathering community support and increasing awareness about the toxins, the committee members were instead battling racial discrimination and a debate with the county about Spanish translation. A local community group, known as Padres Hacia una Vida Mejor, worked for these particular rights.Tan, Elizabeth. 1995. "The Grassroots Struggle for Environmental Justice: The Need for a New Approach to Public Health in Kern County, California". Furthermore, the translation issue seemed to create a division among the county's residents. For example, in their efforts to institute Spanish translation of the EIR and public hearings, the Latino residents isolated themselves from the black and white people in the community. Many English-speaking residents did not support the translation and felt that speaking English was key if Latinos “wanted to live in
heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...
country”. Because of these divisions, a racial streak emerged in the community, further dividing the community and decreasing the strength of their resistance. The struggles of the Buttonwillow community still persist, and even as the residents make progress, they also face additional setbacks. Many of the myths that are often disproved by similar environmental justice cases apply to Buttonwillow. One of the primary myths initially believed by communities facing environmental injustice is that the government is “on our side.” According to Luke W. Cole, this myth is shared more widely among white Americans than among minorities, probably because minorities have historically faced several levels of governmental injustice.


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External links

* {{authority control Census-designated places in Kern County, California Populated places established in 1895 Census-designated places in California 1895 establishments in California