Rail Road Flat, California
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Rail Road Flat (formerly Independence Flat and Railroad Flat) 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 ...
(CDP) in
Calaveras County Calaveras County (), officially the County of Calaveras, is a County (United States), county in both the Gold Country and Sierra Nevada, High Sierra regions of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...
,
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. The population was 316 at the 2020 census.


History

This historic
mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
town,
elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
2,600 feet (788 m), was named after primitive mule-drawn ore cars used here. There was never actually a
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
here. The town was established in 1849. It was the site of an Indian council as well as the center of rich placer and
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
mining. Its largest producer was the Petticoat Mine. The
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
was established in 1857, closed in 1858, and re-established in 1869 and the Edwin Taylor store built in 1867. The town's population was decimated in 1880 by black fever. The Clark
Reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
was created when an engineer named W.V. Clark constructed a ditch from the
Mokelumne River The Mokelumne River ( or ; ''Mokelumne'', Miwok for "People of the Fish Net") is a -long river in northern California in the United States. The river flows west from a rugged portion of the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the C ...
, as there was not much water to work the placers. The reservoir, located on his property, supplied water to the mines and to the town. The town is registered as
California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...
#286.


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, of it is land and of it (1.55%) is water. In 2010, the area of the CDP was , of which, of it is land and of it (0.47%) is water.


Demographics

Rail Road Flat 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

The 2020 United States census reported that Rail Road Flat had a population of 316. The population density was . The racial makeup of Rail Road Flat was 267 (84.5%)
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 ...
, 1 (0.3%)
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 ...
, 4 (1.3%) Native American, 1 (0.3%) 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 ...
, 7 (2.2%) from other races, and 36 (11.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 28 persons (8.9%). The whole population lived in households. There were 146 households, out of which 27 (18.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 71 (48.6%) were married-couple households, 11 (7.5%) 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, 41 (28.1%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 23 (15.8%) had a male householder with no partner present. 33 households (22.6%) were one person, and 21 (14.4%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.16. There were 96
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 ...
(65.8% of all households). The age distribution was 41 people (13.0%) under the age of 18, 16 people (5.1%) aged 18 to 24, 54 people (17.1%) aged 25 to 44, 97 people (30.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 108 people (34.2%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 58.3years. For every 100 females, there were 84.8 males. There were 227 housing units at an average density of , of which 146 (64.3%) were occupied. Of these, 105 (71.9%) were owner-occupied, and 41 (28.1%) were occupied by renters.


2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Rail Road Flat had a population of 475. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was 14.3 people per square mile (5.5/km). The racial makeup of Rail Road Flat was 411 (86.5%)
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 ...
, 0 (0.0%)
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 ...
, 15 (3.2%) Native American, 4 (0.8%) Asian, 2 (0.4%)
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 ...
, 9 (1.9%) from other races, and 34 (7.2%) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 41 persons (8.6%). The Census reported that 475 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 220 households, out of which 41 (18.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 101 (45.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 15 (6.8%) had a female householder with no spouse present, 7 (3.2%) had a male householder with no spouse present. There were 18 (8.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0 (0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 72 households (32.7%) were made up of individuals, and 38 (17.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16. There were 123
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 ...
(55.9% of all households); the average family size was 2.79. The population was spread out, with 77 people (16.2%) under the age of 18, 20 people (4.2%) aged 18 to 24, 70 people (14.7%) aged 25 to 44, 186 people (39.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 122 people (25.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males. There were 340 housing units at an average density of 10.3 per square mile (4.0/km), of which 220 were occupied, of which 169 (76.8%) were owner-occupied, and 51 (23.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 10.5%. 363 people (76.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 112 people (23.6%) lived in rental housing units.


2000

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, the median income for a household in the CDP was $35,938, and the median income for a family was $35,278. Males had a median income of $32,083 versus $28,750 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the CDP was $18,454. About 6.7% of families and 18.4% 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 ...
, including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.


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 ...
, Rail Road Flat is in , and . Federally, Rail Road Flat is in .


References


External links

* {{authority control Census-designated places in Calaveras County, California California Historical Landmarks Populated places established in 1849 Census-designated places in California 1849 establishments in California