Boonville (formerly The Corners and Kendall's City) is a

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, suc ...

(CDP) in

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists whol ...

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 ...

, United States. It is located southwest of Ukiah, at an elevation of 381 feet (116 m). The population was 1,018 at the 2020 census.

History

Boonville was founded by John Bregartes in 1862. It was originally called "The Corners". Bregartes built a hotel there, and in 1864 Alonzo Kendall built another. The town became known as "Kendall's City". W.W. Boone bought a store in town and gave the place its current name. The first post office opened in 1875, having been transferred from Anderson.

Geography

Boonville is in southern Mendocino County, in the

Anderson Valley Anderson Valley is a sparsely populated region in western Mendocino County in Northern California. Located approximately north of San Francisco, the name "Anderson Valley" applies broadly to several rural, unincorporated communities in or near ...

, north of

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 ...

. State Route 128 passes through the town, leading southeast to

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

at Cloverdale and northwest the same distance to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

near

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

. State Route 253 leads east from Boonville to Route 101 near Ukiah. 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 Boonville CDP covers an area of , all of it land. The town is drained by Anderson Creek, a northwest-flowing tributary of the Navarro River, which leads to the Pacific Ocean near Albion.

Climate

The region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. 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, Boonville has a

warm-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 ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Demographics

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 serving ...

reported that Boonville had a population of 1,035. The population density was . The racial makeup of Boonville was 630 (60.9%)

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 ...

, 9 (0.9%)

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 ...

, 18 (1.7%) Native American, 7 (0.7%) Asian, 2 (0.2%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 340 (32.9%) 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 29 (2.8%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 520 persons (50.2%). The Census reported that 1,029 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 1 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 5 (0.5%) were institutionalized. There were 372 households, out of which 139 (37.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 193 (51.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 46 (12.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 23 (6.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 28 (7.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 4 (1.1%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 77 households (20.7%) were made up of individuals, and 28 (7.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77. There were 262 families (70.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.12. The population was spread out, with 268 people (25.9%) under the age of 18, 90 people (8.7%) aged 18 to 24, 270 people (26.1%) aged 25 to 44, 275 people (26.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 132 people (12.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.2 males. There were 413 housing units at an average density of , of which 190 (51.1%) were owner-occupied, and 182 (48.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.2%. 479 people (46.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 550 people (53.1%) lived in rental housing units.

Education

Elementary school students in Boonville attend Anderson Valley Elementary School. Middle and high school students attend Anderson Valley Junior-Senior High School. Both schools are located in Boonville.

Politics

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

, Boonville is in , and . Federally, Boonville is in .

Culture

Anderson Valley Brewing Company - November 2022 - Sarah Stierch 42

Boonville is best known as the source of the

Boontling Boontling is a jargon or argot spoken only in Boonville in Northern California of the United States. It was created in the 1890s. Today, it is nearly extinct, and fewer than 100 people still speak it. It has an Internet Assigned Numbers Authorit ...

folk language. Bottles from the local

Anderson Valley Brewing Company Anderson Valley Brewing Company is a brewery founded in 1987 in Boonville, California, Boonville, California. Its name is derived from its Anderson Valley location in Mendocino County, California, Mendocino County. History Anderson Valley Brew ...

are labeled with the motto "Bahl Hornin'" which means "It's good drinkin'" in Boontling. An Alsatian Varietals wine festival is held at the fairgrounds each February. In early spring (April or May), the annual Legendary Boonville Beer Festival is held at the fairgrounds, featuring beers from about 50 craft breweries. A Pinot Noir Festival is held in May. In July, the Wool-growers'

Barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke ...

and Sheepdog Trials is held at the fairgrounds. Boonville hosts the annual Mendocino County Fair in September. Boonville also hosts the long-running

Sierra Nevada World Music Festival The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival is an annual music festival held every June on the weekend of (or the weekend following) the summer solstice. It is currently held at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, California. History The fes ...

every summer solstice weekend in June. The apple cultivar known as Sierra Beauty is attributed to have been located on a mountainside by itself. Cuttings were made and grafted allowing the cultivar to survive. The Gowan family of Sonoma was one of the early growers that helped save this cultivar from extinction. Boonville, despite its small population, has a minor reputation among political leftists in the United States for

countercultural A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

ideals, including promotion of

organic food Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...

. The town serves as the setting for the novel '' Boonville'' (2001) by

Robert Mailer Anderson Robert Mailer Anderson (born 1968) is an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, Grammy-nominated producer and activist. He is the author of the bestselling novel '' Boonville'', which takes place in the Northern California town of Boonvil ...

and is mentioned in ''

Sourdough Sourdough or sourdough bread is a bread made by the fermentation of dough using wild lactobacillaceae and yeast. Lactic acid from fermentation imparts a sour taste and improves keeping qualities. History In the ''Encyclopedia of Food Microbio ...

'' (2017) by

Robin Sloan Robin Sloan is an American author. His debut novel, ''Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore'', was published in 2012. Early life Sloan was born to a home economics teacher and an appliance salesman. He grew up in Troy, Michigan, where he attended ...

. Some commentators believe Boonville may be the setting for the novel '' Vineland'' (1990) by

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

. The town is known to Unificationists as the site of the successful but ill-fated Creative Community Project. The ZIP Code is 95415. The community is inside

area code 707 Area code 707 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the northwestern part of the U.S. state of California. It was created by a split of area code 415 on March 1, 1959. It serves part of the northern San Francis ...

. The 2008 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

horror

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

film ''

Pig Hunt The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

'' is set and shot in Boonville. The 2016

Western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

'' Boonville Redemption'' is set in Boonville in 1906. Boonville is home of the Boonville stomp, a dance invented by a forestry worker named Maudie in the early 1900s. Les Claypool has a song called "Boonville Stomp" on his album '' Of Fungi and Foe'' which was also featured in the film ''

'' and includes a shout-out to the film's producer and writer

Notable residents

, novelist, screenwriter, playwright and activist; 1987 graduate of Anderson Valley High School * René Auberjonois, Emmy award-nominated actor, former resident * Gabriela Lena Frank, award-winning composer (Latin Grammy, Guggenheim, USA Artist) and Grammy-nominated pianist *

Martin Tevaseu Martin Tauamanu Tevaseu ( ; born October 7, 1987) is a former American football nose tackle. He signed with the Cleveland Browns in 2010 as an undrafted free agent. He played college football at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Martin now works ...

football player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

* In the spring of 1968 a number of Manson Family members lived for a few months in a residence between Boonville and

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's de ...

. Due to drug accusations the residence was raided on June 24 and the inhabitants were arrested. Among the accused were Mary Brunner, Ella Jo Bailey, Susan Atkins and

Patricia Krenwinkel Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel (born December 3, 1947) is an American murderer and a former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Big Patty, Yellow, Marnie Reeves and Mary Ann Sco ...

. After the Boonville raid they left the area.'' Helter Skelter'' (1974) by

Vincent Bugliosi Vincent T. Bugliosi Jr. (; August 18, 1934 – June 6, 2015) was an American prosecutor and author who served as Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office between 1964 and 1972. He became best known for s ...

. Norton & Co, New York.

References

External links

The ''Anderson Valley Advertiser''
- the weekly newspaper of

{{Authority Control Census-designated places in Mendocino County, California Populated places established in 1862 1862 establishments in California Census-designated places in California