Winters is a city in rural
Yolo County, and the western
Sacramento Valley
, photo =Sacramento Riverfront.jpg
, photo_caption= Sacramento
, map_image=Map california central valley.jpg
, map_caption= The Central Valley of California
, location = California, United States
, coordinates =
, boundaries = Sierra Nevada (ea ...
, in northern
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
The population of Winters was 6,624 as of the 2010 Census. It is part of the
Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Yuba City, CA-NV Combined Statistical Area.
Geography
Winters is a small city located on
Putah Creek
Putah Creek (Patwin: ''Liwaito'') is a major stream in Northern California, a tributary of the Yolo Bypass, and ultimately, the Sacramento River. The creek has its headwaters in the Mayacamas Mountains, a part of the Coast Range, and flow ...
in the western
Sacramento Valley
, photo =Sacramento Riverfront.jpg
, photo_caption= Sacramento
, map_image=Map california central valley.jpg
, map_caption= The Central Valley of California
, location = California, United States
, coordinates =
, boundaries = Sierra Nevada (ea ...
, near the northeastern
Vaca Mountains foothills.
It is situated along
Interstate 505
Interstate 505 (I-505) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. It is a spur auxiliary route of I-5 that runs from near Dunnigan south to I-80 in Vacaville. I-505 is primarily a ru ...
, from
Vacaville
Vacaville is a city located in Solano County in Northern California. Sitting approximately from Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is within the Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, Vacaville had a population of 102,386, making it th ...
. Winters is nearly from
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
and about from
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
, California. It is located at .
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 th ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and of it (0.85%) is water.
History
William Wolfskill
William Wolfskill (1798–1866) was an American-Mexican pioneer, cowboy, and agronomist in Los Angeles, California beginning in the 1830s. He had earned money for land in a decade as a fur trapper near Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he had become ...
, a Kentucky immigrant to Mexican
Alta California
Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
, received a
Mexican land grant for
Rancho Rio de los Putos
Rancho Rio de los Putos was a Mexican land grant in the western Sacramento Valley, within present-day Solano County and Yolo County, California.
It was given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to William Wolfskill.
The grant extended alon ...
in 1842 from Governor
Juan Bautista Alvarado
Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) was a Californio politician that served as Governor of Alta California from 1837-42. Prior to his term as governor, Alvarado briefly led a movement for independen ...
. His brother,
John Reid Wolfskill, started the agricultural development of the Sacramento Valley by planting orchards and vineyards on his lands.
In 1849, William Wolfskill transferred half of Rancho Rio de los Putos to John Wolfskill, and transferred the rest to his brother in 1854.
The Winters post office was established in 1875.
Winters
incorporated in 1898.
The name honors
Theodore Winters, whose ranch provided half of the town's land.
In 1935, Wolfskill's heirs deeded 100 acres of the Wolfskill Ranch in Winters to the
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...
, which had been founded in 1908. The land was to be used for an experimental orchard.
Climate
Winters has hot, mostly dry summers and cool, wet winters. According to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
system, Winters has a
hot-summer Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
(''Csa''). Average January temperatures are a maximum of and a minimum of . Average July temperatures are a maximum of and a minimum of . There are an average of 102.0 days with highs of or higher and an average of 20.3 days with lows of . The record high temperature was on June 16, 1961, and July 14, 1972. The record low temperature was on December 23, 1990.
Average annual precipitation is . There are an average of 64 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1983 with and the driest year was 1976 with . The most rainfall in one month was in January 1995. The most rainfall in 24 hours was on March 29, 1907. Snowfall is a rarity in Winters, but fell in January 1973 and fell in December 1988.
Government
;Federal
*
California's 3rd congressional district
California's 3rd congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in California. John Garamendi, a Democrat, has represented the district since January 2013.
Effective January 2023, California's 3rd congressional district will include ...
;State
*
California's 3rd State Senate district
*
California's 4th State Assembly district
;City
The current elected members of the Winters City Council are:
* Mayor — Wade Cowan
* Mayor Pro-Tempore — Bill Biasi
* Council Member — Jesse Loren
* Council Member — Harold Anderson
* Council Member — Pierre Neu
Other elected or appointed city officials include:
* City Manager — Kathleen Trepa
* Police Chief John P. Miller
* Fire Chief Brad Lopez
Economy
Top employers
According to Winters' 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
Demographics
2010
At the
2010 census Winters had a population of 6,624. The population density was . The racial makeup of Winters was 4,635 (70.0%) White, 43 (0.6%) African American, 56 (0.8%) Native American, 63 (1.0%) Asian, 7 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 1,488 (22.5%) from other races, and 332 (5.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,469 persons (52.4%).
The census reported that 6,618 people (99.9% of the population) lived in households, 6 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.
There were 2,186 households, 949 (43.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,322 (60.5%) were
opposite-sex married couples living together, 255 (11.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 134 (6.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 123 (5.6%)
unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 16 (0.7%)
same-sex married couples or partnerships. 365 households (16.7%) were one person and 134 (6.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.03. There were 1,711 families (78.3% of households); the average family size was 3.40.
The age distribution was 1,707 people (25.8%) under the age of 18, 741 people (11.2%) aged 18 to 24, 1,707 people (25.8%) aged 25 to 44, 1,868 people (28.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 601 people (9.1%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 35.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.9 males.
There were 2,299 housing units at an average density of 782.7 per square mile, of the occupied units 1,425 (65.2%) were owner-occupied and 761 (34.8%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.0%. 4,401 people (66.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,217 people (33.5%) lived in rental housing units.
2000
At the
2000 census there were 6,125 people in 1,907 households, including 1,546 families, in the city. The population density was 860.0/km (2,226.6/mi
2). There were 1,954 housing units at an average density of 274.3/km (710.3/mi
2). The
racial makeup
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
of the city was 69.81% White, 0.67% African American, 0.88% Native American, 1.00% Asian, 0.28% Pacific Islander, 22.56% from other races, and 4.80% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 44.41%.
Of the 1,907 households 48.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.9% were non-families. 14.5% of households were one person and 6.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.21 and the average family size was 3.56.
The age distribution was 33.3% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% 65 or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males.
The median household income was $48,678 and the median family income was $55,183. Males had a median income of $40,257 versus $27,662 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,133. About 4.2% of families and 5.0% 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 4.4% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
*
Robert Crumb, cartoonist, lived in Winters until 1991
*
Frank Demaree, Major League Baseball player
*
Robert Craig McNamara, owner of Sierra Orchards and son of
Robert S. McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the ...
, Secretary of the Department of Defense
*
Catherine Squires
Catherine Louise Kearney Squires was a microbiologist known for her work on ribosomal RNA using ''Escherichia coli'' as a model organism. She was an elected fellow of the American Society for Microbiology, American Academy of Microbiology and th ...
(1941–2021), microbiologist
*
John Reid Wolfskill, Winters pioneer
See also
*
1892 Vacaville–Winters earthquakes
The 1892 Vacaville–Winters earthquakes occurred in northern California as a large doublet on April 19 and April 21. Measured on a seismic scale that is based on an isoseismal map or the event's felt area, the 6.4 and 6.2 events were assigne ...
*
References
Sources
*
External links
*
{{authority control
Cities in Yolo County, California
Cities in Sacramento metropolitan area
Sacramento Valley
Populated places established in 1898
1898 establishments in California
Incorporated cities and towns in California