Geyserville (formerly Clairville) is an unincorporated community 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

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...

, USA. Located in the

Wine Country Wine Country is the region of California, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, known worldwide as a premier wine-growing region. The region is famed for its wineries, its cuisine, Michelin star restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury resorts, ...

, Geyserville has a small selection of restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and

wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, b ...

. Geyserville is located on

California State Route 128 State Route 128 (SR 128) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting the Mendocino coast to the Sacramento Valley, through the state's Wine Country. It runs from State Route 1 near Albion to Interstate 505 in Winters. Rout ...

, close to

US 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 ...

. The population was 862 at the 2010 census.

History

Geyserville, located on the

Rancho Tzabaco Rancho Tzabaco was a Mexican land grant in present-day Sonoma County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José German Piña (often misspelled as "Pena" in historical documents). The grant extended along Dry Creek, a tri ...

Mexican land grant, owes its foundation to the discovery in 1847 of a series of hot springs, fumaroles, and steam vents in a gorge in the mountains of

, between Calistoga and

Cloverdale Cloverdale may refer to: Place names ;Australia *Cloverdale, Western Australia ;Canada *Cloverdale, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood *Cloverdale, Surrey, British Columbia * Cloverdale, New Brunswick * Cloverdale, Nova Scotia *Cloverdale Mall in T ...

. This complex, which became known as The Geysers, soon became a tourist attraction, and a settlement grew up to provide accommodation and serve as a gateway to The Geysers. It was initially known as Clairville but subsequently renamed Geyserville. After the

San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (SF&NP) provided the first extensive standard gauge rail service to Sonoma County and became the southern end of the regional Northwestern Pacific Railroad. Although first conceived of by Asbury Harpend ...

was extended to Cloverdale in the 1870s, its trains stopped in Geyserville.

Geography

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 CDP covers an area of 4.6 square miles (11.9 km), all of it land.

Demographics

At the 2010 census Geyserville had a population of 862, although the official sign at the entrance to the town says "1,600" on August 8, 2014. The population density was . The racial makeup of Geyserville was 609 (70.6%) White, 5 (0.6%) African American, 7 (0.8%) Native American, 14 (1.6%) Asian, 0 (0.01%) Pacific Islander, 192 (22.3%) from other races, and 35 (4.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 328 people (38.1%). The census reported that 98.5% of the population lived in households and 1.5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 298 households, 108 (36.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 169 (56.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 26 (8.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 22 (7.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 22 (7.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 2 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 51 households (17.1%) were one person and 14 (4.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.85. There were 217 families (72.8% of households); the average family size was 3.17. The age distribution was 201 people (23.3%) under the age of 18, 71 people (8.2%) aged 18 to 24, 213 people (24.7%) aged 25 to 44, 293 people (34.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 84 people (9.7%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 39.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 116.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 122.6 males. There were 325 housing units at an average density of , of which 58.4% were owner-occupied and 41.6% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 0%. 55.7% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 42.8% lived in rental housing units.

Transportation

Geyserville Avenue carries the designation of

until it routes along

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 ...

to the north. The Northwestern Pacific

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

is expected to be reactivated for

Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is a rail line and bicycle-pedestrian pathway project in Sonoma and Marin counties of the U.S. state of California. When completed, the entire system will serve a corridor between Cloverdale in north ...

service when the line is rebuilt to Cloverdale, but Geyserville is not planned to receive a stop.

References

External links