Chalfant (also Chalfant Valley) 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 Mono County,

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. It is located on the abandoned

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

south-southeast of Benton, at an elevation of . The population was 660 at the 2020 census. Chalfant is a small, primarily residential community located on

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...

, north of the city of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. Most residents commute to Bishop for work and school. The Chalfant post office operated from 1913 to 1928. The ZIP Code is 93514. The community is inside

area codes 442 and 760 Area code 760 is a California telephone area code that was split from area code 619 on March 22, 1997. Area code 442 is an overlay of 760 that became effective on November 21, 2009. It encompasses much of the southeastern and southernmost portion ...

. The town is named after W.A. Chalfant who moved to the area in 1885 with his family, where they started ''The Inyo Register'' newspaper. Chalfant was the editor for 55 years. A 6.2 earthquake occurred on July 21, 1986, in the Bishop and Chalfant area, and injured two people, causing damages estimated at $2.7 million. There was a

foreshock A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to it in both time and space. The designation of an earthquake as ''foreshock'', ''mainshock'' or aftershock is only possible after the full sequ ...

before the initial quake, and an aftershock occurred ten days after the initial temblor. Smaller aftershocks occurred through September 30, 1986.

Geography

Chalfant is in southeastern Mono County, lying in the Chalfant Valley at the western base of the White Mountains. The valley drains south to the

Owens Valley Owens Valley (Numic Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Pl ...

in Inyo 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 Chalfant CDP covers an area of , 99.90% of it land and 0.10% of it water.

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 servin ...

reported that Chalfant had a population of 651. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 23.2 people per square mile (9.0/km). The racial makeup of Chalfant was 594 (91.2%)

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 ...

, 0 (0.0%)

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 ...

, 13 (2.0%) Native American, 5 (0.8%)

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 ...

, 16 (2.5%) from other races, and 23 (3.5%) 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 67 persons (10.3%). The Census reported that 651 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 264 households, out of which 68 (25.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 169 (64.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 14 (5.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 8 (3.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 21 (8.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 3 (1.1%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 53 households (20.1%) were made up of individuals, and 25 (9.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47. There were 191

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 ...

(72.3% of all households); the average family size was 2.87. The population was spread out, with 131 people (20.1%) under the age of 18, 46 people (7.1%) aged 18 to 24, 131 people (20.1%) aged 25 to 44, 238 people (36.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 105 people (16.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.2 males. There were 301 housing units at an average density of 10.7 per square mile (4.1/km), of which 231 (87.5%) were owner-occupied, and 33 (12.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.3%. 575 people (88.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 76 people (11.7%) lived in rental housing units.

Government

In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...

, Chalfant is in , and in . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, Chalfant is in .

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Mono County, California Owens Valley Census-designated places in California