Truckee is an

incorporated town An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation. Canada Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government. United States An incorporated town o ...

Nevada County, California Nevada County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 102,241. The county seat is Nevada City, Califor ...

, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2000 Census.

History

Name

Truckee's existence began in 1863 as Gray's Station, named for Joseph Gray's Roadhouse on the trans-Sierra wagon road.Union Pacific Railroad Historical Society Archives A blacksmith named Samuel S. Coburn was there almost from the beginning, and by 1866 the area was known as Coburn's Station. The Central Pacific Railroad selected Truckee as the name of its railroad station by August 1867, even though the tracks would not reach the station until a year later in 1868. It was renamed Truckee after a

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...

chief, whose assumed Paiute name was Tru-ki-zo. He was the father of Chief Winnemucca and grandfather of Sarah Winnemucca. The first Europeans who came to cross the Sierra Nevada encountered his tribe. The friendly chief rode toward them yelling, "Tro-kay!", which is Paiute for 'Everything is all right'. The unaware travelers assumed he was yelling his name. Chief Truckee later served as a guide for

John C. Frémont Major general (United States), Major-General John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first History of the Repub ...

Donner Party

The

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...

ordeal is arguably Truckee's most famous historical event. In 1846, a group of settlers from Illinois, originally known as the Donner-Reed Party but now usually referred to as the Donner Party, became snowbound in early fall as a result of several trail mishaps, poor decision-making, and an early onset of winter that year. Choosing multiple times to take shortcuts to save distance compared to the traditional

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

, coupled with infighting, a disastrous crossing of the Utah salt flats, and the attempt to use the pass near the Truckee River (now Donner Pass) all caused delays in their journey. Map of Truckee Lake and Alder Creek

Finally, a large, early blizzard brought the remaining settlers to a halt at the edge of what is now Donner Lake, about below the steep granite summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains and east of their final destination,

Sutter's Fort Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican ''Alta California'' province. Established in 1839, the site of the fort was originally part of a utopian colonial project called New Helvetia (''New Switzerland'') ...

(near

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

). Several attempts at carting their few remaining wagons, oxen, and supplies over the summit—sometimes by pulling them up by rope—proved impossible due to freezing conditions and a lack of any preexisting trail. The party returned, broken in spirit and short of supplies, to the edge of Donner Lake. A portion of the camp members also returned to the Alder Creek campsite a few miles to the east. During the hard winter the travelers endured starvation and were later found to have practiced

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...

. Fifteen members constructed makeshift

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footw ...

s and set out for Sutter's Fort in the late fall but were thwarted by freezing weather and disorientation. Only seven survived: two were lost, and six died. Those who died were used as food by those who remained. The Truckee camp survivors were saved by James F Reed who had set out ahead after having been ejected from the party months earlier for killing John Snyder in a violent argument. Seeing that the group never arrived at Sutter's Fort, he initiated several relief parties. Of the original 87 settlers in the Donner-Reed party, 48 survived the ordeal. The Donner Memorial State Park is dedicated to the settlers and is located at the East End of Donner Lake.

Historical events

Truckee grew as 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 ...

town originally named Coburn Station, starting with the

Transcontinental Railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous rail transport, railroad trackage that crosses a continent, continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks may be via the Ra ...

. The railroad goes into downtown Truckee, and the

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 intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

passenger lines still stop there on the trip from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Truckee's Sinophobic movement had begun during the Reconstruction Period, marked by the Trout Creek Outrage of 1876:

By 1876, some 300 of the town’s residents, from workers to its most prominent citizens, had formed a local chapter of the Order of the Caucasians, also known as the Caucasian League, to drive out the Chinese. Truckee gained statewide notoriety that summer when late one night seven of the group's members, clad in black, surrounded and set fire to two cabins full of Chinese woodcutters who had refused to leave the area. The vigilantes shot at the Chinese men as they ran out of the cabin, killing forty-five-year-old Ah Ling.

Charles Fayette McGlashan Charles Fayette McGlashan (12 August 1847 – 6 January 1931) was an American writer, historian, journalist, educator, lawyer, amateur entomologist and astronomer. He was also a Republican who took an active role in Anti-Chinese sentiment in the ...

, local lawyer and owner/publisher of the ''Truckee Republican'', defended those accused in the Trout Creek Outrage and was a leader in the town's anti-Chinese movement. In 1886, the town's Chinese inhabitants, about 1,400 in number, were expelled from Truckee as part of a campaign that included a boycott of any business that did business with Chinese. In 1891, lawman Jacob Teeter was killed in a violent gunfight with fellow lawman, James Reed (no relation to

James Frazier Reed James Frazier Reed (November 14, 1800 – July 24, 1874) was an Irish-American businessman, soldier and pioneer in the American West, notable for being an organizing member of the ill-fated Donner Party emigration to California in 1846. Early ...

of the Donner Party). Constable Reed was among those accused of participating in the Trout Creek Outrage fifteen years prior. Truckee reportedly had one of the nation's first mechanized ski lifts at the site of the Hilltop Lodge. The historic Hilltop Lodge was converted to a restaurant in the 1940s by the Crandall Brothers, and eventually became Cottonwood Restaurant and Bar. There were possibly two rope tows and a Poma lift, which was installed in 1954.Truckee Historical Inventory At the same location there was a ski jump constructed during the early 1900s that was designed by Lars Haugen, a seven-time Olympic ski jumping champion. In 1993, Truckee incorporated as a city.

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 town has a total area of , of which is land and (3.96%) is water, mostly Donner Lake and the

Truckee River The Truckee River is a river in the U.S. states of California and Nevada. The river flows northeasterly and is long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 20, 2012 Th ...

Climate

Under the

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 ...

system, Truckee has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dsb'') with Mediterranean like characteristics. Winters are chilly with regular snowfall, while summers are warm to hot and dry, with occasional periods of intense thunderstorms. Its location near the Sierra Nevada crest at provides conditions for winter storms to commonly deposit nearly a meter of snow in a 24-hour storm event and the occasional week-long storm event can deliver of snow. The

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

reports that Truckee's warmest month is July with an average maximum temperature of and an average minimum temperature of . January is the coldest month with an average maximum temperature of and an average minimum temperature of . The record maximum temperature of was on August 28, 1915. The record minimum temperature of was on February 27, 1962. Annually, there are an average of 8.4 days with highs of or higher and 239 with a high above . Freezing temperatures have been observed in every month of the year and there are an average of 228.4 nights with lows of or lower – seven more than Fairbanks and only eight fewer than Nome – but only 6.0 nights with lows of or lower and 15.6 days where the high does not top freezing. Normal annual precipitation in Truckee is ; measurable precipitation ( or more) occurs on an average of 87.0 days annually. The most precipitation in one month was in December 1955, and the most in 24 hours was on February 1, 1963. The wettest calendar year has been 1997 with and the driest 1976 with , although the extremes by "rain year" are a maximum of between July 1981 and June 1982 and a low of between July 2000 and June 2001. Truckee has an average of of snow annually, which makes it the fifth-snowiest city in the United States, while snow cover usually averages in February, but has exceeded . The most snow in one month was in February 1938, and the most in a season was between July 1951 and June 1952. The maximum 24-hour snowfall was on February 17, 1990.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 US Census reported that Truckee had a population of 16,729. According to the Census, the breakdown of the town's population by race and ethnicity in 2020 was: 12,946 (77.4%)

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 ...

, 3,128 (18.7%)

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, 31 (0.2%)

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 ...

, 92 (0.5%) Native American, 275 (1.6%) Asian, 9 (0.1%) Native Hawaiian or

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 ...

, 1,446 (8.8%) other races, and 1,930 (11.5%) from two or more races. Per the 2021 American Community Survey, 50.3% of residents were male and 49.7% were female. 22.2% of residents were under 18, 15.9% were 65 or older, and the median age was 41.9 years. 8.1% of the town's population were people with disabilities. There were 6,247 households, out of which 59.7% were married-couple family households, 18.8% had a male householder with no spouse present, and 12.5% had a female householder with no spouse present. The average family size was 3.07. There were 13,374 housing units, of which 49.4% were reported as vacant and 50.6% were reported as occupied. 12.8% of Truckee residents had moved: 4.1% of Truckee residents had moved within the same county, 5.2% had moved from a different county within California, 1.1% had moved from a different state, and 2.4% had moved from abroad.

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Truckee had a population of 16,180. The population density was . The racial makeup of Truckee was 13,992 (86.5%)

, 3,016 (18.6%)

or Latino, 60 (0.4%)

, 95 (0.6%) Native American, 241 (1.5%) Asian, 15 (0.1%)

, 1,431 (8.8%) from other races, and 346 (2.1%) from two or more races. The Census reported that 16,137 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 43 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 6,343 households, out of which 2,135 (33.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 3,443 (54.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 411 (6.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 314 (5.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 502 (7.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 43 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,382 households (21.8%) were made up of individuals, and 275 (4.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54. There were 4,168

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 ...

(65.7% of all households); the average family size was 2.98. The population was spread out, with 3,769 people (23.3%) under the age of 18, 1,139 people (7.0%) aged 18 to 24, 5,030 people (31.1%) aged 25 to 44, 4,986 people (30.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,256 people (7.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.3 males. There were 12,803 housing units at an average density of , of which 4,326 (68.2%) were owner-occupied, and 2,017 (31.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.8%. 10,783 people (66.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 5,354 people (33.1%) 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, there were 13,864 people, 5,149 households, and 3,563 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 9,757 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 88.4%

, 0.3%

, 0.6% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2%

, 7.6% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 12.8% of the population. There were 5,149 households, out of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.09. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 36.8% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 5.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.0 males. The median

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. F ...

for a household in the town was $58,848, and the median income for a family was $62,746. Males had a median income of $38,631 versus $29,536 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 town was $26,786. About 2.8% of families and 4.6% 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 5.3% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over. Recent land clearing outside town limits may affect the population.

Government

The town is governed by a five-member Town Council, which elects one of its members as Mayor; the mayor presides over meetings and ceremonial events, but has no other special responsibilities. The mayor as of October 2024 is David Polivy, who previously served in that role from 2019 through 2022, and who is currently serving a term from 2023 through 2026. The first mayor of Truckee was Kathleen Eagan, who served from the town's incorporation in 1993 through 1995.

State and federal representation

In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, Truckee is in , and . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Truckee is in . According to the

California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's o ...

, as of February 10, 2019, Truckee has 9,910 registered voters. Of those, 4,336 (43.8%) are registered Democrats, 1,901 (19.2%) are registered Republicans, and 1,398 (14.1%) have declined to state a political party.

Education

The Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District provides K-12 education to Truckee and the Lake Tahoe area with six schools in the town itself. These consist of two elementary schools, one elementary-middle school, one middle school, and two high schools including Truckee High School.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Amtrak's ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...

'' stops daily at Truckee station. A free public bus, operated by

Placer County, California Placer County ( ; ''Placer'', Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn. P ...

, connects Truckee station to Lake Tahoe, and to Incline Village, Nevada.

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

operates from Truckee station.

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

passes through Truckee. Truckee-Tahoe Airport provides general aviation.

Notable people

* Krista Benjamin, poet and writer * Alissa Bjerkhoel, litigation coordinator, California Innocence Project *

Win Butler Edwin Farnham Butler III (born April 14, 1980) is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. He co-founded the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire with Josh Deu and his wife Régine Chassagne. Early l ...

, Canadian-American singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist *

Stacey Cook Stacey Janelle Cook (born July 3, 1984) is a World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States, and specializes in the speed events. Racing career Born in Truckee, California, Cook started skiing at age 4 with her father at various Lake Tahoe s ...

, World Cup alpine ski racer * Kathleen Eagan, former mayor of Truckee * Andy Finch, snowboarder * Travis Ganong, World Cup alpine ski racer * Chas Guldemond, snowboarder * Jeff Hamilton, former World Speed Skiing champion, 1992 Olympic Bronze Medal winner * Peter Johnson, former World Mogul Skiing champion * Jeremy Jones, snowboarder *

Neel Kashkari Neel Tushar Kashkari
George W. Bush administration archives, February 27 ...

, banker and politician * Errol Kerr, downhill skier * Ximena McGlashan, entomologist * Debbie Meyer, former competition swimmer * Ryan O'Nan, actor * Daron Rahlves, a former World Skiing champion and Olympian * Pierre Robert, rock music personality,

WMMR WMMR (93.3 FM, "93-3 WMMR") is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC and broadcasts an active rock radio format. ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

* Karly Shorr, snowboarder *

April Stewart April Stewart (born February 8, 1968) is an American voice actress best known for providing the voices of many of the female characters in the animated comedy series ''South Park'' along with Mona Marshall and Kimberly Brooks. She also provided ...

, voice actress * Marco Sullivan, former World Cup alpine ski racer * Annika Taylor, cross country skier * Amy Westervelt, journalist * Maia Wilkins, ballerina

References

External links

* {{authority control Populated places in Nevada County, California Populated places in the Sierra Nevada (United States) Incorporated cities and towns in California Populated places established in 1993 1993 establishments in California Cities in Sacramento metropolitan area