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Kirkwood (formerly Kirk, Kirkwood's, and Roundtop) is an
unincorporated community 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 ...
in Alpine and Amador counties,
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 ...
, United States. Kirkwood's main attraction is the Kirkwood Mountain Resort. The town is accessible by State Route 88. Kirkwood is within the Eldorado National Forest. The population was 190 at the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Kirkwood 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 ...
(CDP).


History

Zack Kirkwood, a
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
rancher who had settled in the area, opened an inn, named Kirkwood's, in 1863 with the opening of the Amador/Nevada Wagon Toll Road, the primary route through 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 primari ...
Mountains. The following year, Alpine County was created and the redrawing of the county borders placed the inn at the convergence of Alpine, El Dorado, and Amador counties (the borders were later changed so that the inn is no longer in El Dorado County, but the original signpost marking the intersection of the three counties is still in the building). Eventually, the inn became a fashionable summer resort. After Zack's death, the inn stayed in the family and continued to operate until 1966, when it was sold to an investment group, who then converted it into the present-day Kirkwood Mountain Resort.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (18.28%) is water.


Climate

Kirkwood has a dry-summer
subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...
(
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 ...
: ''Dsc''). Summertime is very mild, with little precipitation, while winter is very wet and cold.


Demographics

Kirkwood 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 2000 U.S. Census.


2020 census

The 2020 United States census reported that Kirkwood had a population of 190. The population density was . The racial makeup of Kirkwood was 84.2%
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 ...
, 3.2%
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 ...
, 3.7% Native American, 2.6% Asian, 0.0%
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 ...
, 1.1% from other races, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.7% of the population. The Census reported that 72.6% of the population lived in households, 26.8% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.5% were institutionalized. There were 81 households, out of which 8.6% included children under the age of 18, 13.6% were married-couple households, 11.1% were cohabiting couple households, 18.5% had a female householder with no partner present, and 56.8% had a male householder with no partner present. 56.8% of households were one person, and 7.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.7. There were 22 families (27.2% of all households). The age distribution was 5.8% under the age of 18, 11.1% aged 18 to 24, 33.2% aged 25 to 44, 34.2% aged 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 45.0years. There were 121 males and 69 females. There were 659 housing units at an average density of , of which 81 (12.3%) were occupied. Of these, 32.1% were owner-occupied, and 67.9% were occupied by renters.


Infrastructure

The Kirkwood Mountain Resort was built with a micro-utility providing electric power without connecting to the state electric grid. The community was eventually connected when the town of Kirkwood took over the utility.


In popular culture

In episode 4 of season 2 of ''
The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...
'' entitled " In This White House", Deputy White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn references Kirkwood in a televised debate about school funding, though he mistakenly states that Kirkwood is located in
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 ...
. His debate competitor, Ainsley Hayes, corrects him by noting that the town is located in California.


References


Pioneer Zack Kirkwood Was First To Tame This Frontier Mountain Wilderness


External links


Kirkwood Mountain Resort
{{authority control Census-designated places in California Census-designated places in Alpine County, California Census-designated places in Amador County, California Populated places in the Sierra Nevada (United States)