Castaic () (
Chumash Chumash may refer to:
*Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism
*Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California
*Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California
See also
*Chumash traditional n ...
: ''Kaštiq'';
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
: ''Castéc'') is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in the northwestern part of
Los Angeles County,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. As of the
2010 census it had a population of 19,015.
For statistical purposes the Census Bureau has defined Castaic as a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 count ...
(CDP).
Tens of thousands of motorists pass through Castaic daily as they drive to or from Los Angeles on
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
(the Golden State Freeway).
Castaic Lake
Castaic Lake (Chumash: ''Kaštiq'') is a reservoir formed by Castaic Dam on Castaic Creek, in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, near the town of Castaic.
The California Office of Enviro ...
is part of the California Water Project and is the site of a hydro-electric power plant. Castaic is northwest of
Los Angeles Union Station
Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande S ...
and northwest of the city of
Santa Clarita
Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17t ...
.
The
Castaic Range War
The Castaic Range War, also known as the Jenkins-Chormicle Affair, was a range war that happened in Castaic, California from 1890 to 1916, between ranchers and farmers William Willoby Jenkins and William C. Chormicle who both staked claims on a ...
went on for decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries resulting in dozens of deaths before hostilities ceased in 1916.
Name
The name is derived from the
Chumash Chumash may refer to:
*Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism
*Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California
*Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California
See also
*Chumash traditional n ...
word ''Kaštiq'', meaning "the eye".
[John R. Johnson, "The Trail to Kashtiq," ''The Journal of California Anthropology,'' vol 5, no 2, pp 188–198]
SCVHistory.com
/ref> The Spanish and Mexicans later spelt the name in Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
as ''Castéc''. Castec is first mentioned on old boundary maps of Rancho San Francisco
Rancho San Francisco was a land grant in present-day northwestern Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County, California. It was a grant of by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Antonio del Valle, a Mexican army officer, in recognition for his ser ...
, as a canyon at the trailhead leading to the old Chumash camp at Castac Lake
Castac Lake (Chumash: ''Kaštiq''), also known as Tejon Lake, is a natural saline endorheic, or sink, lake near Lebec, California. The lake is located in the Tehachapi Mountains just south of the Grapevine section of Interstate 5, and within Te ...
(Tejon Ranch), which is intermittently wet and briny.[ Early publications in English spelled it ''Casteque'' before the current spelling became standardized.][The earliest English spelling was Casteque, an anglicization of Castéc, which in turn is the Spanish spelling of Chumash Kashtiq]
UC Riverside, ''California Digital Newspaper Database''.
/ref>
History
The Córdova family of California The Córdova family is a noted Californio family of Southern California. The family were the first settlers in the area near present-day Castaic, California and played a notable role in 19th century Sierra Pelona.
Jesús Córdova
The progenitor of ...
were the first settlers in the area. Modern Castaic began in 1887 when Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
set up a railroad siding on the line between Piru and Saugus Station, naming it "Castaic Junction
Castaic Junction is an unincorporated community located in Los Angeles County, California. It is located at the crossroads of Interstate 5 and State Route 126 near the confluence of Castaic Creek and the Santa Clara River.
Places in Castaic ...
". Between January and April 1890, the Castec School District adopted the new spelling, "Castaic".
Range War
Between 1890 and 1916, the Castaic Range War
The Castaic Range War, also known as the Jenkins-Chormicle Affair, was a range war that happened in Castaic, California from 1890 to 1916, between ranchers and farmers William Willoby Jenkins and William C. Chormicle who both staked claims on a ...
was fought in Castaic country over ranch boundaries and grazing rights. It was the biggest range war
A range war or range conflict is a type of usually violent conflict, most commonly in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the American West. The subject of these conflicts was control of " open range", or range land freely used for cattle grazing ...
in U.S. history.
A feud started over Section 23, where the Stonegate subdivision is now. William Chormicle had legally bought the property, but William "Wirt" Jenkins was already storing grain on it and said he had filed for ownership. During a heated dispute, Chormicle and a friend shot and killed two of Jenkins's cowhands. They were acquitted in court.[SCV History, "The Great Range War"](_blank)
/ref>
Jenkins, however, was the local justice of the peace, with friends of his own, and the feud quickly grew into war. Former Los Angeles Rangers (among whom Jenkins had fought) and other notables were drawn in. The war claimed dozens of lives and foiled a negotiator, a forest ranger whom President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
had sent in to quell it.
Cattle business
Castaic has the last traditional cattle roundup—with horses, lariat
A lasso ( or ), also called lariat, riata, or reata (all from Castilian, la reata 're-tied rope'), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the Spanish an ...
s, and branding irons—in Los Angeles County. It has been held by the Cordova family since 1834, when the family first settled here. Members of the Cordova family were scouts for the U.S. Army during the Mexican War in 1846 and helped identify bodies during the St. Francis Dam
The St. Francis Dam was a concrete gravity dam located in San Francisquito Canyon in Los Angeles County, California, United States, built from 1924 to 1926 to serve Los Angeles's growing water needs. It catastrophically failed in 1928 due to a d ...
disaster in San Francisquito Canyon
San Francisquito Canyon is a canyon created through erosion of the Sierra Pelona Mountains by the San Francisquito Creek (Santa Clara River tributary), San Francisquito Creek, in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, Southern Califor ...
in 1928. Operations scaled back in 1967 when the government seized around , including the ancestral ranch-house, for the planned Castaic Lake and dam.
Geography
Seismology
The area is seismically active. On January 3, 2015, a pair of earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
s of magnitude 3.1 (location: , depth: ) and 4.2 (location: , depth: ), respectively, were reported about north of Castaic. The epicenter
The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates.
Surface damage
Before the instrumental pe ...
was from Santa Clarita, California.
Climate
This region experiences hot and dry summers, and cool, moderately rainy winters. During the months of June though September, the average high temperature ranges from the 90s F (30s C) to above . According to the Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
system, Castaic has a hot-summer 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 ...
, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...
reported that Castaic had a population of 19,015. The population density was . The racial makeup of Castaic was 13,607 (71.6%) White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
(57.1% Non-Hispanic White), 630 (3.3%) African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 119 (0.6%) Native American, 2,162 (11.4%) Asian, 26 (0.1%) Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 1,466 (7.7%) from other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1,005 (5.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 4,716 persons (24.8%).
The Census reported that 18,946 people (99.6% of the population) lived in households, 69 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
According to the 2010 United States Census, Castaic had a median household income of $106,538, with 7.0% of the population living below the federal poverty line.
"Community Facts" American FactFinder, United States Census Bureau The population was spread out in age, with 5,761 people (30.3%) under the age of 18, 1,717 people (9.0%) aged 18 to 24, 5,144 people (27.1%) aged 25 to 44, 5,302 people (27.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,091 people (5.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.
There were 5,932 housing units at an average density of , of which 4,843 (84.2%) were owner-occupied, and 908 (15.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.7%. 16,231 people (85.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,715 people (14.3%) lived in rental housing units.
Education
Elementary and middle school students attend schools in the Castaic Union School District
Castaic Union School District is a public school district serving unincorporated Castaic, portions of unincorporated Valencia, and a very small portion of the city of Santa Clarita within Los Angeles County, California, offering elementary and sec ...
. High school students attend Castaic High School
Castaic High School (CHS) is a high school in the unincorporated community of Castaic, California, in the Santa Clarita Valley. It is part of the William S. Hart Union High School District. The school officially opened in August 2019.
History
On ...
in the William S. Hart Union High School District
The William S. Hart Union High School District (commonly referred to simply as the Hart District) is a school district in the Santa Clarita Valley of Los Angeles County, California. It serves all of the valley's high school students (grades 9†...
. Castaic High School first opened in 2019.
Government and infrastructure
In the California State Legislature, Castaic is in , and in .
In the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, Castaic is in .
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States ...
(LASD) operates the Santa Clarita Valley Station in Santa Clarita
Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17t ...
, serving Castaic. Station 149 of the Los Angeles County Fire Department
The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting services as well as technical rescue services, hazardous materials response services and emergency medical response services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County ...
serves the community. The Castaic Area Town Council meets monthly.
Notable people
* Troy Neiman, baseball player
Appearances in popular culture
The community was featured by Huell Howser
Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...
in ''The Bench'' Episode 19.
See also
* List of places in California
References
USGS Fips55 database See also
*List of cities in California
*List of counties in California
The U.S. state of California is divided into 58 counties. The state was first divided into 27 counties on February 18, 1850. These w ...
References
External links
Castaic Area Town Council
How to Pronounce Castaic (crowd-sourced)
{{Authority control
1915 establishments in California
Census-designated places in California
Census-designated places in Los Angeles County, California
Populated places established in 1915