Aromas (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "Scents") is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

(CDP) in

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is ...

and

San Benito County San Benito County (; ''San Benito'', Spanish for " St. Benedict"), officially the County of San Benito, is a county located in the Central Coast region of California. Situated in the California Coast Ranges, the county had a population of 64 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. The population was 2,708 at the 2020 census. The CDP straddles the border of the two counties, with Monterey County to the west and San Benito County to the east. The Santa Cruz County line is less than a mile to the northwest, and

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the ...

is about to the north. Its population was almost equally distributed between the two counties with 1,365 in Monterey County and 1,343 in San Benito County. Aromas is one of four CDPs in California that are divided between two or more counties. The others are Kingvale (divided between

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

and Nevada County), Kirkwood (divided between Alpine County and

Amador County Amador County () is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 40,474. The county seat is Jackson, California, Jackson. Ama ...

), and Tahoma (divided between Placer County and

El Dorado County El Dorado County (; ''El Dorado'', Spanish language, Spanish for "The Golden ne), officially the County of El Dorado, is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

).U.S. Census Bureau

History

The settlement was originally known as "Sand Cut", named from the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

tunnel constructed nearby in 1871. The settlement was renamed Aromas, after Rancho Las Aromitas y Agua Caliente, around 1895.

Geography

Aromas is located in northern Monterey County and northwestern San Benito County at (36.886988, -121.641396). Is it bordered to the south by Prunedale.

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

runs along the southeastern edge of the community, leading north to Gilroy and south to Salinas. 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 Aromas CDP has a total area of . of it are land and , or 0.22%, are water. The center of town is on the south side of the valley of the

Pajaro River The Pajaro River (''pájaro'' is ''bird'' in Spanish language, Spanish) is a U.S. river in the Central Coast (California), Central Coast region of California, forming part of the border between San Benito County, California, San Benito and Sant ...

, about southwest of where the river cuts through Pajaro Gap (Chittenden Pass) at the south end of the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Aromas had a population of 2,708. The population density was . The racial makeup of Aromas was 58.7%

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 ...

, 0.6%

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 ...

, 2.1% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 0.1%

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 ...

, 22.0% from other races, and 13.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 40.8% of the population. The census reported that 100% of the population lived in households. There were 910 households, out of which 30.2% included children under the age of 18, 61.2% were married-couple households, 5.9% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 19.2% had a female householder with no partner present, and 13.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 17.4% of households were one person, and 11.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.98. There were 693

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 ...

(76.2% of all households). The age distribution was 17.6% under the age of 18, 7.7% aged 18 to 24, 25.7% aged 25 to 44, 27.7% aged 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 43.9years. For every 100 females, there were 102.5 males. There were 954 housing units at an average density of , of which 910 (95.4%) were occupied. Of these, 79.8% were owner-occupied, and 20.2% were occupied by renters.

Schools

The Aromas-San Juan School District has three schools – Aromas Elementary School, San Juan School and Anzar High School. Aromas has one K-8 school, Aromas Elementary School with less than 400 students, (in 2000). Heather Howell is the current principal of Aromas School. Anzar High School, which opened in 1994, was named after early area pioneers. Anzar's current principal is Angela Crawley, and the school's total enrollment amounts to 258 students.

Economy

Aromas is home to a Graniterock quarry, with the A.R. Wilson quarry owned and operated by the Watsonville-based company. Since 1986, Fireclay Tile has been manufacturing architectural tile in Aromas.

Notes

References

* U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
U.S. Census website
Retrieved 2013-10-21.

External links

at ''Explore Monterey County''
Aromas-San Juan Unified School District

Aromas Water District
* Shor

of Ygnacio Villegas's writing about "Las Aromas Rancho" from California Legacy Project. {{authority control Census-designated places in San Benito County, California Census-designated places in Monterey County, California Census-designated places in California