Smith River (

Tolowa The Tolowa people or Taa-laa-wa Dee-ni’ are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethno-linguistic group. Two rancherías (Smith River and Elk Valley) still reside in their traditional territory in northwestern California. Tho ...

: ''Kaa-nvsh'') is an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

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 counte ...

Del Norte County Del Norte County (Spanish for "Of The North") is a county located at the far northwest corner of the U.S. state of California, along the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Oregon border. Its population was 27,743 as of the 2020 census, down from 28 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, located near the

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

border. Smith River is the headquarters of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, a

federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...

Tolowa people The Tolowa people or Taa-laa-wa Dee-ni’ are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethno-linguistic group. Two rancherías (Smith River and Elk Valley) still reside in their traditional territory in northwestern California. Tho ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 906. It is bordered by the

Smith River National Recreation Area Smith River National Recreation Area is a protected area located in northwestern California, United States. The national recreation area is in Six Rivers National Forest and is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Departme ...

History

A post office was opened in 1863. One early settler of Smith River was William Dows Rexford, who moved there with his sons in the early 1870s. Smith River has formerly been known as Smith River Corners, Smith's River Valley, Smiths River, and Smith's River.

Demographics

Smith River first appeared 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 counte ...

in the 2010 U.S. Census. The 2020 United States census reported that Smith River had a population of 906. The population density was . The racial makeup of Smith River was 496 (54.7%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1 (0.1%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 95 (10.5%) Native American, 0 (0.0%) Asian, 1 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 177 (19.5%) from other races, and 136 (15.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 338 persons (37.3%). The whole population lived in households. There were 343 households, out of which 114 (33.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 167 (48.7%) were married-couple households, 17 (5.0%) were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 86 (25.1%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 73 (21.3%) had a male householder with no partner present. 103 households (30.0%) were one person, and 37 (10.8%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.64. There were 228

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(66.5% of all households). The age distribution was 225 people (24.8%) under the age of 18, 68 people (7.5%) aged 18 to 24, 210 people (23.2%) aged 25 to 44, 253 people (27.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 150 people (16.6%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 38.9years. For every 100 females, there were 105.0 males. There were 365 housing units at an average density of , of which 343 (94.0%) were occupied. Of these, 217 (63.3%) were owner-occupied, and 126 (36.7%) were occupied by renters.

Climate

Smith River is the wettest human-inhabited spot in the state of California, and experiences an

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

, for it is just beyond the northern periphery of the

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

zone of coastal California. Seasonal precipitation patterns strictly follow the patterns evident in a Mediterranean regime however, although the rather copious average annual precipitation amount of wildly exceeds the precipitation limit for Mediterranean climates implemented in the revised version of the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

by over twofold. The summer months from June to September receive very stark precipitation (profoundly similar to a Mediterranean climate), with July and August in particular being relatively dry. In stark contrast, winter is stupendously wet, and windy, with approximately 74% of the year's total average precipitation observed in the five-month period from November to March. Temperatures remain profoundly moderate throughout the year, fluctuating only several degrees.

Politics

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

, Smith River is in , and . Federally, Smith River is in .

In popular culture

Smith River was listed as one of the filming sites for the 1983 film ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The sequel to '' The Empire ...

'', alongside Buttercup Valley and Death Valley in the east and southeast portions of the state, respectively.

References