Newell is 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 ...

Modoc County Modoc County () is a county located in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 8,700 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,686 from the 2010 census. This makes it California's third-least-populous county. The co ...

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 ...

in the United States. It is located west-northwest of Alturas, at an elevation of . Its population is 301 as of the 2020 census, down from 449 from the 2010 census. The community is located along State Route 139 south of Tulelake and about south of 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. It is less than south of Tulelake on the U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute quadrangle, ''Newell, California''. The U.S. Geological Survey, National Geographic Names Database, calls its existence official with a feature ID of 1659219 and lists the coordinates of the community as . The ZIP Code is 96134: a code shared with several other local towns. The community is inside

area code 530 Area codes 530 and 837 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in northeastern and Northern California. 530 was created in 1997 in an area code split of 916 and 837 was added to the same numbering plan area as an ov ...

History

The town was named in honor of

Frederick Haynes Newell Frederick Haynes Newell (March 5, 1862 – July 5, 1932), served as the first Director of the United States Reclamation Service and was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1885 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ...

, director of the United States Reclamation Service.

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 covers an area of , 99.76% of it land, and 0.24% of it water.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Newell had a population of 301. The population density was . The racial makeup of Newell was 128 (42.5%)

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 ...

, 2 (0.7%)

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 ...

, 20 (6.6%) Native American, 0 (0.0%) Asian, 0 (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 ...

, 103 (34.2%) from other races, and 48 (15.9%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 181 persons (60.1%). The census reported that 281 people (93.4% of the population) lived in households, 20 (6.6%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 108 households, out of which 44 (40.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 52 (48.1%) were married-couple households, 8 (7.4%) 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, 22 (20.4%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 26 (24.1%) had a male householder with no partner present. 21 households (19.4%) were one person, and 7 (6.5%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.6. There were 78

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 ...

(72.2% of all households). The age distribution was 77 people (25.6%) under the age of 18, 15 people (5.0%) aged 18 to 24, 55 people (18.3%) aged 25 to 44, 90 people (29.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 64 people (21.3%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 45.9years. For every 100 females, there were 106.2 males. There were 135 housing units at an average density of , of which 108 (80.0%) were occupied. Of these, 72 (66.7%) were owner-occupied, and 36 (33.3%) were occupied by renters.

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 ...

, Newell is in , and . Federally, Newell is in .

Migrant centers

Newell Migrant Center

In 1972, 47 cabins were built at the migrant center. Most of the cabins were compact: 448 square feet with two small bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and small living room. Three of the units, however, were duplexes, each containing two 725-square-foot, three-bedroom units. In 2006, Modoc County began construction on new units after demolishing the 44 old, smaller cabins. The new facilities consist of ten 600-square-foot, two-bedroom units and twenty-four 725-square-foot, three-bedroom units similar to those in the old duplexes, which were retained. The camp provides a table, chairs, refrigerator, stoves, sink, beds and mattresses. A daily fee includes electricity, water, trash pickup, and landscaping. The facility has a resource center, a playground, a laundry facility, and a public services program.

Castlerock Farmworker Center

The Castlerock Farmworker Center opened in the spring of 2020. This center is for domestic, foreign, or H2A farm labor without families. There are 47 units with a laundry facility in the center; each unit can house 3 individuals. The units are rented to businesses needing housing for their farm labor.

Sierra Cascade

In 2006, Modoc County’s largest grower, Sierra Cascade, was sued by laborers brought to California from Mexico via the H2A contract labor program over poor housing and living conditions. The H2A program requires growers to provide housing to workers. Sierra Cascade housed their workers in a warehouse on the county fairgrounds. One former worker recalls the grim conditions, “During the first two weeks, on many occasions, we would have a cup of coffee for breakfast, a small portion of greasy tough meat with rice for lunch, and cereal, coffee and bread with jelly for dinner.” In the warehouse, couples and single men and women alike were all held openly together, despite promises of family quarters. The workers were tasked with trimming the roots of strawberry seedlings. Their contracts specified they’d be required to process upwards of 1,000 plants per hour. If a worker failed to meet their quota, Sierra Cascade would fire them and put them on a bus back to Mexico. Some workers still failed to meet their quota despite working through their breaks. A state court judge later ruled that the production quotas were legal.

Landmarks

* There are many grain and horseradish storage facilities in or near Newell. * Newell Elementary School, operated by Tulelake Basin Joint Unified School District, is a local landmark. * Tulelake Municipal Airport (FAA identifier: 081 or zero-eight-one) features a paved runway. The Common Traffic Advisory Frequency is 122.9 MHz. * The site of the World War II U.S. Army facility named the

Tule Lake War Relocation Center The Tule Lake War Relocation Center, also known as the Tule Lake Segregation Center, was an Internment of Japanese Americans, American concentration camp located in Modoc County, California, Modoc and Siskiyou County, California, Siskiyou count ...

is near the north end of the community. The center was a prison camp for interned Japanese nationals, and U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry, during a portion of the war. * The

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

Modoc Subdivision tracks run along the west side of town and parallel to SR139. * Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge, a unit of Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, is northwest of the town. This is a U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service federal reservation.

Sources

* Map: ''Lava Beds National Monument, California'', 417-648/40240 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1997). * U.S. Geological Survey, National Geographic Names Database. * Map: U.S. Geological Survey, Newell, California, 7.5-minute Quadrangle, 1993. * ''California Region Timetable: 14'', (Modesto, California: Altamont Press, 2003).

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Modoc County, California Census-designated places in California