Bonny Doon, California

Bonny Doon is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California. It is situated northwest of the city of Santa Cruz, considered part of the southern San Francisco Bay Area or northern Monterey Bay Area. Bonny Doon's population was 2,868, as reported by the 2020 census.

History

It was founded in the 1850s as a logging camp. The current name can be attested back to 1902: John Burns, a Scotsman living in Santa Cruz, named Bonny Doon after a line in the Robert Burns song " The Banks O' Doon". The line is: "Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon...", and refers back to the Doon River in Scotland. Evidence of 2,600 years of occupation by Native Americans has been found in the area.

Bonny Doon has no city center or commercial shops, but features several wineries including Bonny Doon Vineyard, a church, two fire stations, a lavender farm, the Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve, an elementary school, and a private-use airport. A beach of the same name is nearby.

In 2020, Bonny Doon was popular with remote workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wildfires

At 2:54 p.m. on June 11, 2008, a fire broke out at the Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve, a preserve with a number of hiking trails located on Martin Road. This Martin Fire burned , destroying three residences and eight outbuildings. About 1,500 residents of Bonny Doon were evacuated as a result of the fire. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for Santa Cruz County. The blaze cost over $5.4 million to contain and was part of a busy summer of wildfires in California.

Little more than one year later, on August 12, 2009 at 7:16 pm, a second fire started in Bonny Doon, near the Lockheed facility off Empire Grade. The Lockheed Fire burned , and destroyed 13 outbuildings. More than 2,000 residents were evacuated as the blaze spread from Swanton south toward Bonny Doon. The blaze cost over $26.6 million and took nearly 2 weeks to be fully contained. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

In August 2020, Bonny Doon was affected by the CZU complex of lightning-initiated fires, which joined together to form one of the top 10 largest fires ever in California. Many home structures, the local school, and lavender field farm were protected by local residents – and one neighbor’s (borrowed) fire equipment truck. This band of neighbors defied an evacuation order and worked together over 4 days and nights to save multiple properties in their community, with the help of CAL Fire at the very peak of the fire.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 16.7 square miles (43.2 km), all of it land. The area sits at an elevation of .

The area is on a slope with higher elevations in redwood forest or maritime chaparral, and lower elevations descending into the coastal zone, which is occupied by grasslands. There are ocean views from parts of the area on days when fog is not present.

The road to Bonny Doon from State Route 1, named Bonny Doon Road, crosses an enclosed, unmarked conveyor belt, which carried limestone from a quarry east to the Cemex cement plant in Davenport. The Davenport plant had supplied cement for later stages of the Panama Canal and other large projects since its founding in 1906, but is now closed.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Bonny Doon had a population of 2,868. The population density was . The racial makeup of Bonny Doon was 81.6% White, 0.6% African American, 0.4% Native American, 2.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.1% from other races, and 11.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.9% of the population.

The census reported that 98.0% of the population lived in households, 1.6% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.4% were institutionalized.

There were 1,083 households, out of which 25.4% included children under the age of 18, 55.3% were married-couple households, 8.1% were cohabiting couple households, 17.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 18.9% had a male householder with no partner present. 21.1% of households were one person, and 11.1% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.60. There were 735 families (67.9% of all households).

The age distribution was 16.9% under the age of 18, 5.8% aged 18 to 24, 23.8% aged 25 to 44, 27.2% aged 45 to 64, and 26.4% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 48.2years. For every 100 females, there were 106.5 males.

There were 1,171 housing units at an average density of , of which 1,083 (92.5%) were occupied. Of these, 76.3% were owner-occupied, and 23.7% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $163,125, and the per capita income was $58,869. About 6.7% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line.

Government

In the California State Legislature, Bonny Doon is in , and in .

In the United States House of Representatives, Bonny Doon is in .

Infrastructure

Internet and television service are available but mobile phone service is very limited due to the mountainous terrain and trees.

Notable people

Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988), a noted science fiction author, and his wife Virginia, resided in Bonny Doon from 1965 until just before his death. They designed and built the house themselves.

Bonny Doon was briefly in the spotlight in 2009 when model Jasmine Fiore was murdered. Jasmine grew up in Bonny Doon and attended the local elementary, where she was known as Jasmine Lepore.

References

External links

Community Website for Bonny Doon, Archived 2007

Rural Bonny Doon Association

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Census-designated places in Santa Cruz County, California
Census-designated places in California
1850s establishments in California