Gridley is a city in
Butte County,
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, south of
Chico, California
Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...
and north of
Sacramento, California
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
. The 2019 State of California population estimate was 7,224.
California State Route 99
State Route 99 (SR 99), commonly known as Highway 99 or, simply, as 99 (without any further designation), is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley. Fr ...
runs through Gridley and
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 Califor ...
and
California State Route 70 are both nearby. The highway CA 99 goes through Gridley and the current population is 9,082
ound in a recent census
History
Butte County was historically a bountiful area covered with oak trees, fields of manzanita brush, and marshes and lakes in the rainy season. The valley floor abounded with wild game, geese and ducks overhead, deer, antelope, tule elk, the coyote, and many smaller varieties of animal life. Fish swarmed in the rivers and creeks. Several tribal groups, including the
Maidu
The Maidu are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather River, Feather and American River, American ...
people, were settled in the region when they were first encountered by Spanish and Mexican scouting expeditions in the early 18th century. In the 1850s George W. Gridley, a wool grower and grain farmer who at the time was one of the largest landowners in Butte County, settled a 960-acre home ranch west of the town site that was to be named after him. Gridley was established in 1870 when the
Oregon and California Railroad
The Oregon and California Railroad was formed from the Oregon Central Railroad when it was the first to operate a stretch south of Portland in 1869. This qualified the railroad for land grants in California, whereupon the name of the railroad s ...
was constructed north from Marysville. The railroad reached Chico on July 2, 1870.
In response to a "The Place Where Crops Never Fail" advertising campaign by the California Irrigated Land Company, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began emigrating from the Rexburg, Idaho area to Gridley in November 1906. By February of the following year the Gridley Branch of the church was organized and more Latter-day Saints continued coming to Gridley from Idaho, Nevada, Utah and other states, effectively turning this small farming community into a Mormon enclave. By the end of 1908 there were some 500 LDS settlers in the Gridley area and their first chapel was constructed on the west corner of Sycamore and Vermont Streets in 1912 with a seating capacity of 1,000—the largest LDS meetinghouse west of Salt Lake City at that time.
Following a
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
in November 2018 in
Paradise, California
Paradise is a town in Butte County, California, United States in the Sierra Nevada foothills above the northeastern Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 4,764. On November 8, 2018, a major wildfire, the Camp Fire ...
, 400 temporary modular housing units called the "Gridley Camp Fire Community" were erected at a city-owned industrial park in Gridley.
In 2020, Gridley was the place where former
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
engineer and
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
star
Mark Rober
Mark B. Rober is an American YouTuber, engineer, inventor, and educator. He is known for his YouTube videos on popular science and do-it-yourself gadgets. Before YouTube, Rober was an engineer with NASA for nine years, where he spent seven y ...
achieved a
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
of the World's Largest
Elephant's Toothpaste Explosion with a height of 60 feet, before subsequently breaking the record again with a height of 250 feet in 2021.
Geography
According to the
United States 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 city has a total area of , all land.
Climate
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, Gridley has a
warm-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
2010
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 servin ...
reported that Gridley had a population of 6,584. The population density was . The racial makeup of Gridley was 4,283 (65.1%)
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 on ...
, 55 (0.8%)
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 ...
, 98 (1.5%)
Native American, 249 (3.8%)
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 3 (0.0%)
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, 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 the original p ...
, 1,552 (23.6%) 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 344 (5.2%) from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, 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 Vic ...
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 3,000 persons (45.6%).
The Census reported that 6,472 people (98.3% of the population) lived in households, 16 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 96 (1.5%) were institutionalized. There were 2,183 households, out of which 910 (41.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,087 (49.8%) were
opposite-sex married couples living together, 338 (15.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 134 (6.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 149 (6.8%)
unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 8 (0.4%)
same-sex married couples or partnerships. 520 households (23.8%) were made up of individuals, and 297 (13.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96. There were 1,559
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...
(71.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.54.
The population was spread out, with 1,892 people (28.7%) under the age of 18, 668 people (10.1%) aged 18 to 24, 1,681 people (25.5%) aged 25 to 44, 1,415 people (21.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 928 people (14.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.
There were 2,406 housing units at an average density of , of which 2,183 were occupied, of which 1,262 (57.8%) were owner-occupied, and 921 (42.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.5%. 3,829 people (58.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,643 people (40.1%) lived in rental housing units.
Economy
Gridley is adjacent to the
Sacramento metropolitan area
The Greater Sacramento area refers to a metropolitan region in Northern California comprising either the U.S. Census Bureau defined Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade metropolitan statistical area or the larger Sacramento–Roseville combined ...
, the fifth largest metropolitan area in California.
Tourism
![Oroville](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Oroville.jpg)
*The Gridley area is a sportsman's haven. Excellent hunting, fishing and naturalist opportunities are available on private and public lands. The Gray Lodge Wildlife Waterfowl Management Area, part of the
Refuge Water Supply Program is located southwest of Gridley. Its 8,400 acres form some of the most intensively used and developed wetlands in the entire Pacific Flyway.
* Gridley is away from the recreational facilities available at Lake Oroville. Lake Oroville and the Oroville Afterbay feed into the clear rolling waters of the Feather River, which provides some of the best salmon fishing in the state. The
Oroville Dam
Oroville Dam is an earthfill embankment dam on the Feather River east of the city of Oroville, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of the Sacramento Valley. At 770 feet (235 m) high, it is the tallest dam in the U.S. and serv ...
is one of the 20 largest dams in the world, the largest earth filled dam in the US, and the tallest dam in the US.
Lake Oroville
Lake Oroville is a reservoir formed by the Oroville Dam impounding the Feather River, located in Butte County, northern California. The lake is situated northeast of the city of Oroville, within the Lake Oroville State Recreation Area, in th ...
has 15,500 surface acres for recreation and 167 miles of shoreline. Lake Oroville features an abundance of camping, picnicking, horseback riding, hiking, sail and power boating, water-skiing, fishing, swimming, boat-in camping, floating campsites and horse camping. At the base of the Dam, the
Feather River
The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over . The main stem Feather R ...
Fish Hatchery raises Chinook salmon and steelhead along the Feather River.
*Lake Oroville Visitor Center is located in
Kelly Ridge and overlooks the Oroville Dam and Lake Oroville. The visitor center is home to a museum with interpretive displays, the history of the dam and the
State Water Project. A 47-foot viewing tower also allows the visitor the opportunity to have a panoramic view of the lake and surrounding areas.
Parks and recreation
![Gridleyvierrapark](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Gridleyvierrapark.jpg)
Gridley has several trails and parks featuring playgrounds, picnic tables and benches. Boat Launch Park includes a new boat ramp and dock, restrooms, lighting, and a fish cleaning table. It is located east of Gridley on East Gridley Road. The modern facility was largely funded by the
California Division of Boating and Waterways.
Education
The Gridley Community is served by the
Gridley Unified School District
The Gridley Unified School District (GUSD) is a public primary and secondary education school district located in Gridley, California, a suburban town north of Sacramento, California and south of Chico, California. It consists of two elementary ...
. Schools in the Gridley Unified School District include:
*
Gridley High School
* Esperanza High School
* Sycamore Middle School
* McKinley Elementary School
* Wilson Elementary School
* Manzanita Elementary School
Higher education
*
California State University, Chico
California State University, Chico, or commonly, Chico State, is a public university in Chico, California. Founded in 1887, it is the second oldest campus in the California State University system. As of the fall 2020 semester, the university had ...
(Chico State)
*
Butte College
Butte College is a public community college in the Butte-Glenn Community College District in Chico and Orland, California.
History
After the passage of the 1960 Donahoe Act, the voters of Butte County created a local community college ...
*
Yuba Community College
*
Cal Northern School of Law
Cal Northern School of Law is a private law school located in Chico, California. Cal Northern offers a four-year night program.
Accreditation
The school has been approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California since 19 ...
Infrastructure
Healthcare
Orchard Hospital is a general acute care facility in Gridley with a Level IV trauma center and standby emergency care.
Highways
Gridley is located in the
Central Valley, along
California State Route 99
State Route 99 (SR 99), commonly known as Highway 99 or, simply, as 99 (without any further designation), is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley. Fr ...
, north of
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
. It is close to larger metropolitan areas.
California State Route 70 and
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 Califor ...
are both within .
Public transport
B-Line
Butte Regional Transit is Butte County's regional public transit system. Area residents use B-Line to travel locally in Gridley, Chico, Oroville, and Paradise, or to travel between communities throughout Butte County.
Airport
Sacramento International Airport
Sacramento International Airport is located northwest of Downtown Sacramento in Sacramento County, California, United States and covers . It serves the Sacramento Metropolitan Area, and it is run by the Sacramento County Airport System. The ...
is a public
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
south of Gridley, in
Sacramento County, California
Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854.
Sacramento County is the ...
.
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...
currently accounts for half the airline passengers. The Airport served more than 10 million passengers in 2016.
The
Oroville Municipal Airport
Oroville Municipal Airport is a public airport located 3 miles (5 km) southwest of the city of Oroville in Butte County, California, United States.
Facilities
Oroville Municipal Airport covers and has two runways:
* Runway 02/20: 6, ...
is located to the northeast of Gridley on
State Route 162 and west of
State Route 70.
Notable people
*
G. Vernon Bennett, Los Angeles City Council member, 1935–49
*
Isaac Austin
Isaac Edward "Ike" Austin (born August 18, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for several different teams in the National Basketball Association between 1991 and 2002. He is the uncle of former Baylor University b ...
, retired NBA basketball player, 1991–2004
*
Wally Westlake, MLB All-Star baseball player
*
Leslie Deniz, Olympic silver medal, 1984 Los Angeles, Women's discus
*
References
External links
*
City-Data.comComprehensive Statistical Data and more about Gridley
{{authority control
Cities in Butte County, California
Incorporated cities and towns in California