Big Pine (formerly Bigpine) is a

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

Inyo County, California Inyo County () is a County (United States), county in the Eastern California, eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the po ...

, United States. Big Pine is located approximately south-southeast of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. Its population was 1,875 at the 2020 census, up from 1,756 at the 2010 census. The Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation bases their tribal headquarters there.

Geography

Big Pine is located in the

Owens Valley Owens Valley (Mono language (California), Mono: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra ...

of California between the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

and the White Mountains, just west of the Owens River upstream of its diversion into the

Los Angeles Aqueduct The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The Owens Valley ...

. It lies on U.S. Route 395, the main north–south artery through the Owens Valley, connecting the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. US 395 also connects Big Pine to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

via State Route 14 through Palmdale. To the East, CA route 168 crosses the White Mountains over Westgard Pass to the

basin and range province The Basin and Range Province is a vast United States physiographic region, physiographic region covering much of the inland Western United States and Northern Mexico, northwestern Mexico. It is defined by unique basin and range topography, charac ...

of Nevada, while Death Valley Road leads to

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. It is thought to be the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth during summer. Death Valley's Badwat ...

. The plaque beneath the young giant sequoia (pictured), referred to as the Roosevelt Pine, at the road junction says it was planted in 1913 to commemorate the opening of Westgaard Pass to auto traffic. The landmark giant sequoia was felled on September 28, 2020, after most of its foliage had died following its sole water source drying up in the 2017-18 drought. North from Westgaard Pass lies the

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is a protected area high in the White Mountains (California), White Mountains in Inyo County, California, Inyo County in eastern California. Geography The forest is east of the Owens Valley, high on the east ...

, home to the oldest trees in the world. To the West, Glacier Lodge Road leads high up Big Pine Creek into the Sierra, to lakes, hiking trails, fishing, and rock climbing underneath the Palisades Range and the Palisade Glacier. 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 CDP has a total area of , over 99% of its land.

History

The Big Pine post office first opened in 1870, closed for a time during 1877, changed its name to Bigpine in 1895, and reverted to Big Pine in 1962. Big Pine has a significant geologic feature (an earthquake scarp) related to the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake. In 1958, the Owens Valley Radio Observatory was established just north of Big Pine. Matt Williams, a professional baseball player and manager, lived there for part of his life. Hollywood character actor Elisha Cook, Jr., known for such classic films as '' The Maltese Falcon'' and '' Shane'', had a home in Big Pine and died here in 1995.

Demographics

2020 census

The 2020 United States census reported that Big Pine had a population of 1,875. The population density was . The racial makeup of Big Pine was 57.7%

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 ...

, 0.2%

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 ...

, 25.0% Native American, 1.2% 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 ...

, 7.8% from other races, and 8.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.9% of the population. The whole population lived in households. There were 770 households, out of which 27.1% included children under the age of 18, 44.2% were married-couple households, 6.1% were cohabiting couple households, 28.2% had a female householder with no partner present, and 21.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 29.7% of households were one person, and 15.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.44. There were 499

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 ...

(64.8% of all households). The age distribution was 23.3% under the age of 18, 5.7% aged 18 to 24, 25.5% aged 25 to 44, 24.1% aged 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 41.6years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. There were 872 housing units at an average density of , of which 770 (88.3%) were occupied. Of these, 76.6% were owner-occupied, and 23.4% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $52,647, and the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $41,505. About 8.1% of families and 11.4% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010 census

The 2010 United States Census reported that Big Pine had a population of 1,756. The population density was . The racial makeup of Big Pine was 1,192 (67.9%)

, 3 (0.2%)

, 438 (24.9%) Native American, 13 (0.7%) Asian, 1 (0.1%)

, 52 (3.0%) from other races, and 57 (3.2%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 182 persons (10.4%). The Census reported that 1,756 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 764 households, out of which 184 (24.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 360 (47.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 100 (13.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 37 (4.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 49 (6.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 7 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 219 households (28.7%) were made up of individuals, and 100 (13.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30. There were 497

(65.1% of all households); the average family size was 2.78. The population was spread out, with 341 people (19.4%) under the age of 18, 118 people (6.7%) aged 18 to 24, 381 people (21.7%) aged 25 to 44, 571 people (32.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 345 people (19.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males. There were 871 housing units at an average density of , of which 764 were occupied, of which 586 (76.7%) were owner-occupied, and 178 (23.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.3%. 1,357 people (77.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 399 people (22.7%) lived in rental housing units.

Education

Big Pine students are served by Big Pine Unified School District which features an elementary school, middle school, high school and a continuation high school. The Big Pine high school mascot is the Warrior.

Representation

In the state legislature, Big Pine is in , and . Federally, Big Pine is in .

Piper v. Big Pine (1924) 193 Cal. 664

In 1923, Alice Piper, a 15-year-old Native American living in Big Pine, wanted to attend Big Pine school, but was denied on grounds of her ethnicity. Piper, the daughter of Pike and Annie Piper, sued the school district, claiming the state law establishing separate schools for “Indian children” and other children of Asian parentage was unconstitutional. The State Supreme Court ruled unanimously that because Alice Piper's father was a tax-paying citizen, that Alice Piper therefore qualified as a citizen under the

Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the P ...

. The court did not, in fact, find that her 14th Amendment rights had been violated. Nonetheless, Alice Piper was invited as a pupil and her victory along with the passage the '' Indian Citizenship Act'', on the same day opened the door for her and other Native American children to attend public schools in the state of California. Because of this, the Big Pine School District is memorialized as a major player in the constitutional battle over the rights of Native Americans to attend public schools segregated for “whites only.” The Piper case has become a landmark case and is viewed as the legal authority guaranteeing Native American children the right to attend public schools. It has been used as precedent in other cases such as

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

References

External links

{{authority control Census-designated places in Inyo County, California Owens Valley Populated places in the Mojave Desert Census-designated places in California