Calexico () is a city in southern

Imperial County, California Imperial County is a county located on the southeast border of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 179,702, ranking as the least populous county in Southern California. The county seat and largest city is ...

. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali, Cale ...

, the capital of the Mexican state of

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

. It is about east of

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and west of

Yuma, Arizona Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 95,548 at the 2020 census, up from the 2010 census population of 93,064. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, Metropolitan ...

. Calexico, along with six other incorporated Imperial County cities, forms part of the larger populated area known as the

Imperial Valley The Imperial Valley ( or ''Valle Imperial'') of Southern California lies in Imperial and Riverside counties, with an urban area centered on the city of El Centro. The Valley is bordered by the Colorado River to the east and, in part, the S ...

. First explored by Europeans in the 18th century, Calexico began as a small tent community which was ultimately incorporated in 1908.

Etymology

The name of the city is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

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 ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The originally proposed names were ''Santo Tomas'' or ''Thomasville.''

is a similarly named city directly across the international border from Calexico, its name being a portmanteau of the words "Mexico" and "California."

History

The expedition of Spanish explorer

Juan Bautista de Anza Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was a Novohispanic/Mexican expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as on ...

traveled through the area some time between 1775 and 1776, during Spanish rule. The trail through Calexico was designated as a historical route by the State of California.

Founding

Calexico began as a

tent city A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures. State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable te ...

of the Imperial Land Company; it was founded in 1899, and incorporated in 1908. The Imperial Land Company converted desert land into a fertile setting for year-round agriculture. The first post office in Calexico opened in 1902.

2010 earthquake

On April 4, 2010, the El Mayor earthquake caused moderate to heavy damage throughout Calexico and across the border in Mexicali. Measuring 7.2 , the quake was centered about south of the U.S.–Mexico border near Mexicali. A

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

was declared and officials cordoned off First and Second streets between Paulin and Heber Avenues. Glass and debris littered the streets of downtown Calexico and two buildings partially collapsed. The Calexico water treatment plant sustained severe damage.

Geography

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 ...

, at the 2020 census, the city had a total area of , all land. Calexico is located southeast of

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, ...

, east of

, west of Phoenix, and adjacent to

. Calexico's location provides easy overnight trucking access to all those transportation hubs plus the ports of

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, and Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Calexico is served by State Routes 98, 7 and 111, with direct connection to Interstate 8 (5 miles north) and State Route 86. There are eighteen regular and irregular common carriers for intrastate and interstate truck service to Calexico. Rail service is provided by

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

, and connects with the main line to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

;

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

; Tucumcari, New Mexico;

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

; and

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Within city limits is Calexico International Airport, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint for private passenger and air-cargo flights entering the U.S. from Mexico. Private charter services are also available there. General aviation facilities and scheduled passenger and air-cargo service to San Diego International Airport,

Bob Hope Airport Hollywood Burbank Airport is a public airport northwest of downtown Burbank, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. effective November 9, 2017 The airport serves Burbank, Hollywood, and the nor ...

in Burbank, and other points are available at Imperial County Airport (Boley Field), located north.

Climate

Calexico has a

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

hot-desert climate (''BWh''), according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system. In December 1932, the city experienced a rare snowfall. Rainfall usually occurs in the winter months of December, January and February. Although summer is extremely dry in Calexico, there are occasional thunderstorms. In 2008, during the months of July and August there were several heavy thunderstorms that let down large amounts of rain and hail. Summer rainfall in the city is infrequent. During wintertime, Calexico is sometimes affected by winter rain showers. The summer temperatures in Calexico are very hot, with most of those days having temperatures at or above . However, the hot desert climate seen in Calexico is actually not unusual for similar parallel cities such as, for example,

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The area has a large amount of sunshine year-round due to its stable descending air and high pressure.

Demographics

2020 census

The 2020 United States census reported that Calexico had a population of 38,633. The population density was . The racial makeup of Calexico was 19.7%

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 ...

, 1.3% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.0%

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 ...

, 45.4% from other races, and 32.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 97.2% of the population. The census reported that 99.7% of the population lived in households, 0.3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 10,468 households, out of which 47.2% included children under the age of 18, 52.9% were married-couple households, 3.7% were cohabiting couple households, 31.7% had a female householder with no partner present, and 11.7% had a male householder with no partner present. 13.7% of households were one person, and 8.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.68. There were 8,738

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 ...

(83.5% of all households). The age distribution was 25.7% under the age of 18, 10.3% aged 18 to 24, 23.3% aged 25 to 44, 24.7% aged 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 36.2years. For every 100 females, there were 87.5 males. There were 10,815 housing units at an average density of , of which 10,468 (96.8%) were occupied. Of these, 50.9% were owner-occupied, and 49.1% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $50,021, 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 $20,185. About 17.7% of families and 21.0% of the population were below the poverty line.

Government

The City of Calexico operates under a City Council/City Manager form of government. The City Council consists of five Council Members, elected to overlapping four-year term. The Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem are chosen from among the five council members and rotate on an annual basis. The mayor presides at council meetings, where all official policies and laws of the city are enacted. The members of the Calexico City Council set policy and appoint commissions and committees that study the present and future needs of Calexico. The other two elected officials in the City of Calexico are the City Clerk and City Treasurer. Each of them is elected directly by the voters and serves a 4-year term. The Calexico branch of the Imperial County Superior Court system was officially renamed on Saturday, December 19, 1992, in honor of Legaspi family members Henry, Victor and Luis Legaspi as the Legaspi Municipal Court Complex.

Politics

In the state legislature, Calexico is in , and . Federally, Calexico is in . The current mayor is Gloria Romo. The mayor pro tem is Gilberto Manzanarez, and the other council members are Javier Moreno, Raul Urena, and Camilo Garcia. In recent years, Calexico has overwhelmingly supported Democratic Party candidates for president. In eight of the last nine presidential elections, the Democratic candidate has received over 70% of the vote.

Education

Colleges and universities

Post-secondary education is available at the Imperial Valley Campus of

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

, and at Imperial Valley College ( to the north). In addition, there are more than 20 local agencies and programs providing vocational training which can be tailored to the specific needs of potential employers.

Public schools

The Calexico Unified School District serves city residents. Calexico has 7 elementary schools, 2 junior high schools and 2 high schools:

Elementary

; Grades K–6 * Kennedy Gardens Elementary – Home of the Eagles * Allen and Helen Mains Elementary – Home of the Trojans * Rockwood Elementary – Home of the Rockets * Blanche Charles Elementary – Home of the Dolphins * Jefferson Elementary – Home of the Tigers * Dool Elementary – Home of the Cougars * Cesar Chavez Elementary – Home of the Lobos

Junior high schools

=Grades 7–8

= * Willam Moreno Jr. High – Home of the Aztecs * Enrique Camarena Junior High School – Home of the Firebirds

High schools

;Grades 9–12 * Calexico High School 9th Campus - Home of the Bulldogs * Calexico High School – Home of the Bulldogs (10th-12th) * Aurora High School – Home of the Eagles

Public charter school (Independent Study)

RAI Online Charter School—raicharter.net (K–12, tuition-free)

Adult education schools

* Robert F. Morales Adult Education Center * Independent Studies Office

Private schools

Calexico Mission School Calexico Mission Academy is a school under the control of the Southeastern California Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is di ...

, a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

Academy operated by the Southeastern California Conference in Riverside, CA provides private religious education in Calexico from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Our Lady of Guadalupe Academy (Home to the Bees), and Vincent Memorial Catholic High School (Home to the Scots), Roman Catholic schools operated by the

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

, are also in Calexico.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Calexico is served by the privately owned Calexico Transit, LA Shuttle and Numero Uno Shuttle and the publicly owned Imperial Valley Transit for local transit. Calexico is also served by

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...

. Freight rail service is provided by Union Pacific Railroad's Calexico Subdivision.

Utilities

Calexico's public works departments operates water and sewer service for the city.

Community

Calexico generally identifies as part of the larger

region, which includes the El Centro metropolitan area, as do the rest of the cities in the county. Notable sites *Hotel De Anza (Hotel establishment notable for its history and having served celebrities and public figures) * Calexico Carnegie Library ( Carnegie library built in 1918 and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2005) *US Inspection Station – Calexico (Historically used as the original port of entry during the early 20th century – was closed and added to the

in 1992) * Camp Salvation (Refugee camp established in 1849 by Lieut. Cave for emigrants coming from the Southern Emigrant Trail during the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

– was registered as a

California Historical Landmarks A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

site in 1965.) *Camp John H. Beacom – a semipermanent camp named after Colonel John H. Beacom (6th infantry) garrisoned in Calexico during World War I for patrolling duties. The site was abandoned in 1920 according to cavalry journals. *Camp Calexico was another post used for patrolling duties by Colonel W. G. Schreibe and his infantry in 1914 * Mount Signal Solar (One of the largest PV solar farms in the world) Red Ribbon Week Red Ribbon Week, a national observance dedicated to spreading awareness about the prevention of drugs and violence (especially in schools) originated within the city of Calexico during the mid to late 1980s as a tribute to DEA officer Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Red Ribbon Week campaigns were pushed forward by

Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in ...

Sister city

(since April 28, 2017)

Media

The city media includes national public television stations, county-wide radio stations (some of which feature nation-wide or California state-wide programing), county-wide print publications such as Imperial Valley Press as well as a few locally managed general interest publications.

Notable people

* Isaac Acuña (b. 1989) – soccer player *

Bill Binder William Otto Binder (February 28, 1915 – January 28, 2010) was an American restaurateur and businessman who ran the landmark Philippe's restaurant, known as Philippe the Original, downtown Los Angeles for decades. Philippe's, a major destination ...

(1915–2010) – restaurateur, businessman, and owner of

Philippe's Philippe's, or "Philippe the Original" ( ) is a restaurant located in downtown Los Angeles, California. The restaurant is well known for continuously operating since 1908, making it one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles. It is also ren ...

Kiki Camarena Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (July 26, 1947 – February 9, 1985) was a Mexican-American agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In February 1985, Camarena was kidnapped by police officers hired by the Guadalajara Cartel. After b ...

(1947–1985) –

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

agent *

Enrique Castillo Enrique Castillo (Enrique Jimenez Castillo; born December 10, 1949) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He founded Four Brown Hats Entertainment (FBHE) and was a founding member of the Latino Theater Company. Life and career ...

(b. 1949) – actor, writer, director, and producer * Jeff Cravath (1903–1953) –

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player and coach * Mariano-Florentino Cuellar (b. 1972) –

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...

justice and president of

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., with operations in Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the United States. Foun ...

* Emilio Delgado (1940–2022) – actor * Bob Huff (b. 1953) –

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

member * William Kesling (1899–1983) – architect * Takashi Kijima (1920–2011) – photographer *

Henry Lozano Henry Lozano (born August 24, 1948) is a Non-profit sector, non-profit executive and Grassroots organizing, grassroots organizer. His years of public service culminated in his post at the White House as Executive Office of the President of the U ...

(b. 1948) – Deputy Assistant to

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and director of the

USA Freedom Corps USA Freedom Corps was a White House office and fifth policy council (along with Domestic, Economic, National Security, and Homeland Security) within the Executive Office of the President of the United States under George W. Bush, who as President ...

* Dan Navarro (b. 1952) – singer, guitarist, and voice actor * Ruben Niebla (b. 1971) –

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) player and coach * Allen Strange (1943–2008) –

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and writer * Danny Villanueva (1937–2015) –

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) player, co-founder of

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

, and general manager of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

* Primo Villanueva (b. 1931) –

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

player * Eugenio E. Walther (1940–2023) –

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

* Bob Wilson (1916–1999) –

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

member for California

References

External links

*
Calexico Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Incorporated cities and towns in California Cities in Imperial County, California Mexico–United States border crossings * Communities in the Lower Colorado River Valley Imperial Valley Populated places in the Colorado Desert Populated places established in 1908 1908 establishments in California