Blue Lake, California

Blue Lake (formerly Scottsville) is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Blue Lake is located on the Mad River in a deep valley, northeast of Eureka, at an elevation of 131 feet (40 m). Its population is 1,208 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,253 from the 2010 census.

Geography and climate

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , over 95% of which is land.

History

Present Blue Lake comprises "old" Blue Lake, Powersville, and Scottsville. In 1854, Augusta Bates settled in the Scottsville area and sold to Brice M. Stokes in 1862. In 1861, the 13-acre Blue Lake was formed from flooding of the north fork of Mad River, and it gave the town a resort atmosphere. As the river changed course in the 1920s, the lake disappeared to become what today is a small pond on private property.

In 1866, William Scott purchased land from Brice M. Stokes and established "Scott's Farm," later becoming Scottsville. Powersville was established in 1869 by David Powers on land originally claimed by Augusta Bates, Brice M. Stokes and William Scott.

In 1876 a post office opened, named "Mad River." The post office named Blue Lake was established in 1878. The town of Blue Lake was incorporated on April 11, 1910.

Lumber industry

The lumber industry shipped wood down the Arcata and Mad River Railroad. During the 1950s, timber shipped from Blue Lake included from Levitt Brothers own lumberyard and nail factory from which lumber and nails were sent to the four Levittown developments in the eastern U.S. A Brief History of Levittown, New York
, Levittown Historical Society, retrieved February 8, 2013

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Blue Lake had a population of 1,208. The population density was . The racial makeup of Blue Lake was 983 (81.4%) White, 5 (0.4%) African American, 61 (5.0%) Native American, 11 (0.9%) Asian, 2 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 24 (2.0%) from other races, and 122 (10.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 96 persons (7.9%).

The whole population lived in households. There were 541 households, out of which 159 (29.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 200 (37.0%) were married-couple households, 63 (11.6%) were cohabiting couple households, 171 (31.6%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 107 (19.8%) had a male householder with no partner present. 161 households (29.8%) were one person, and 64 (11.8%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.23. There were 316 families (58.4% of all households).

The age distribution was 229 people (19.0%) under the age of 18, 62 people (5.1%) aged 18 to 24, 333 people (27.6%) aged 25 to 44, 338 people (28.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 246 people (20.4%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 43.6years. For every 100 females, there were 86.1 males.

There were 569 housing units at an average density of , of which 541 (95.1%) were occupied. Of these, 314 (58.0%) were owner-occupied, and 227 (42.0%) were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $52,813, and the per capita income was $40,169. About 7.1% of families and 25.4% of the population were below the poverty line.

Politics

In the state legislature, Blue Lake is in , and .

Federally, Blue Lake is in .

Notable people

*Carlo Mazzone-Clementi, founder of Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre
* Garth Iorg, American MLB baseball player
* Dane Iorg, American MLB baseball player

References

External links

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Incorporated cities and towns in California
Cities in Humboldt County, California