Pajaro (

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, Cana ...

: ''Pájaro'', meaning "bird") 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 ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a 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 counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Montere ...

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is located on the south bank of the

Pajaro River The Pajaro River (''pájaro'' is ''bird'' in Spanish language, Spanish) is a U.S. river in the Central Coast (California), Central Coast region of California, forming part of the border between San Benito County, California, San Benito and Santa ...

northeast of its mouth, at an elevation of . The population was 2,882 at the 2020 census, down from 3,070 in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. The school district is in Santa Cruz County.

Geography

Pajaro is located along the northern edge of Monterey County at . It lies in the Pajaro Valley, with the Pajaro River forming the community's and the county's northern boundary. The city of

Watsonville Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, located in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 according to the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self- ...

is across the river to the northwest, Santa Cruz County. 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 Pajaro CDP has a total area of , all of it land.

History

The Pajaro post office operated from 1872 to 1873 and from 1882 to 1888. The oldest building in the community is the Porter-Vallejo Mansion. Constructed in the 1840s and remodeled multiple times, it was acquired in 1991 by then-Monterey County Supervisor Marc Del Piero and converted into a public library/senior citizen center. It also houses a day-care facility for the children of migrant farm workers. Supervisor Del Piero, a Pajaro native, also secured major federal grants to acquire and completely rebuild the public water system in 1984, and transferred it to the newly created Pajaro Community Services District. PCSD was led by General Manager Joseph Rosa from 1984 to 2010. On Monday, May 11, 1903, 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 ...

stopped in Pajaro for a ten-minute whistle-stop address on his way to Santa Cruz. He arrived in his special train via the Southern Pacific at 8:50am and left at 9:00am. The town was heavily flooded in 1995 and 1998.

Transportation

A proposed

Pajaro/Watsonville station Pajaro/Watsonville is a proposed train station on Caltrain and Amtrak California's ''Capitol Corridor'' trains to serve both Pajaro and Watsonville, California. The station is expected to open after track improvements in the area and service comm ...

is expected to be built at Watsonville Junction for

Caltrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as far ...

and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Capitol Corridor The ''Capitol Corridor'' is a passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two points most trains operate between, San ...

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 Pajaro had a population of 3,070. The population density was . The racial makeup of Pajaro was 1,451 (47.3%)

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 ...

, 15 (0.5%)

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 ...

, 78 (2.5%) Native American, 53 (1.7%)

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 ...

, 0 (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 ...

, 1,281 (41.7%) 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 192 (6.3%) 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 ...

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 2,889 persons (94.1%). The Census reported that 2,979 people (97.0% of the population) lived in households, 91 (3.0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 621 households, out of which 444 (71.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 409 (65.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 86 (13.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 57 (9.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 41 (6.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 3 (0.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 46 households (7.4%) were made up of individuals, and 19 (3.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.80. There were 552

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. Ideall ...

(88.9% of all households); the average family size was 4.82. The population was spread out, with 1,067 people (34.8%) under the age of 18, 432 people (14.1%) aged 18 to 24, 970 people (31.6%) aged 25 to 44, 471 people (15.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 130 people (4.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 124.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 134.3 males. There were 655 housing units at an average density of , of which 141 (22.7%) were owner-occupied, and 480 (77.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.2%. 620 people (20.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,359 people (76.8%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 3,384 people, 634 households, and 571 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 667 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 42.94%

, 0.47%

, 1.65% Native American, 1.51%

, 0.35%

, 48.29% from

, and 4.79% from two or more races.

of any race were 94.24% of the population. There were 634 households, out of which 66.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 9.9% were non-families. 6.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 5.28 and the average family size was 5.25. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 39.6% under the age of 18, 15.5% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 10.4% from 45 to 64, and 4.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females, there were 119.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 124.2 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,315, and the median income for a family was $37,083. Males had a median income of $17,384 versus $17,917 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $9,893. About 20.4% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 23.8% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Public services

Some public services in the Community of Pajaro are provided by the Pajaro-Sunny Mesa Community Services District (PSMCSD) which was organized, according to the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian newspaper, by then- Monterey County Supervisor Marc Del Piero and the Monterey County Board of Supervisors in 1984. PSMCSD, a non-profit, governmental agency, provides public water services, public sewer services, park services, and street lighting services to the community. PSMCSD has also significantly expanded its service areas to provide water services to the Prunedale, Elkhorn, and Moss Landing communities of North Monterey County. Additionally, between 1984 and 1990, Supervisor Del Piero secured federal grant funds, and re-constructed and expanded major portions of the Pajaro County Sanitation District sewer system. He remedied multiple public health problems and extended services to the Bay Farms, Fruitland, and Las Lomas neighborhoods according to the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian newspaper.

References

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