Colusa County () is a county located in the U.S. state of

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,839. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Colusa. It is in the northern Sacramento Valley, northwest of the state capital, Sacramento.

History

Colusa County is one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county's territory were given to Tehama County in 1856 and to Glenn County in 1891. The county was named after the 1844 Rancho Colus Mexican land grant to John Bidwell. The name of the county in the original state legislative act of 1850 was spelled ''Colusi'', and often in newspapers was spelled ''Coluse''. The word is derived from the name of a Patwin village known as ''Ko'-roo'' or ''Korusi'' located on the west side of the Sacramento River on the site of the present-day city of Colusa. The name was established as ''Colusa'' by 1855.

Early history

Present-day Colusa County was originally home to the Patwin band of the Wintun people, whose territory included areas along the Sacramento River as well as lands extending west towards Lake County, bounded in the north by the sources of Stony Creek near Stonyford and in the south by Putah Creek. Linguistically, the Patwin people in the Colusa area spoke two dialects of the Southern Wintuan language. River Patwin was spoken in villages along the Sacramento River, including at Korusi, site of the present city of Colusa. Hill Patwin was spoken in the plains and foothills to the west.

European settlement

Present-day Colusa County was included as part of three Mexican land grants: John Bidwell's smaller 1845 Rancho Colus grant, which included the modern city of Colusa; the larger 1844 Rancho Jimeno grant, which surrounded the Colus grant; and the 1844 Larkin's Children grant, located upriver from Colusa near the present town of Princeton, California.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water. A large number of streams drain the county, including Elk Creek, Salt Creek, Stony Creek and Bear Creek. The county's eastern boundary is formed, in part, by the Sacramento River.

Adjacent counties

* Glenn County - north * Butte County - northeast * Sutter County - east * Yolo County - south * Lake County - west

National protected areas

* Butte Sink National Wildlife Refuge (part) * Colusa National Wildlife Refuge * Delevan National Wildlife Refuge * Mendocino National Forest (part) * Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

2020 census

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010

The 2010 United States census reported that Colusa County had a population of 21,419. The racial makeup of Colusa County was 13,854 (64.7%)

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 ...

, 195 (0.9%)

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 ...

, 419 (2.0%) Native American, 281 (1.3%) Asian, 68 (0.3%)

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 ...

, 5,838 (27.3%) from other races, and 764 (3.6%) 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 11,804 persons (55.1%).

2000

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 18,804 people, 6,097 households, and 4,578 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 6,774 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 64.3%

, 0.6%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 2.3% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.4%

, 26.7% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. 46.5% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 8.5% were of German, 5.6% English, 5.5% American and 5.4% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 58.7% spoke English and 40.4% Spanish as their first language. There were 6,097 households, out of which 41.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01 and the average family size was 3.51. In the county, the population was spread out, with 31.6% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 103.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.8 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,062, and the median income for a family was $40,138. Males had a median income of $32,210 versus $21,521 for females. 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 ...

for the county was $14,730. About 13.0% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 19.5% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Voter registration statistics

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

In its early history Colusa was one of the most reliable Democratic counties in California. Along with Mariposa County, it was one of only two counties in the Pacific States to support Alton B. Parker in 1904. From 1880 until 1952, Colusa only went Republican during the GOP landslides of the Roaring Twenties. Since 1952, however, Colusa has become a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections, with Lyndon Johnson, in 1964, being the last Democrat to win the county. Colusa County is in . In the State Assembly, Colusa County is split between the 3rd and 4th districts, represented by and , respectively. In the State Senate, the county is in . On November 4, 2008, Colusa County voted 71.6% for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

* State Route 16 * State Route 20 * State Route 45

Public transportation

Colusa County Transit runs buses from Colusa to Williams, Arbuckle, Grimes and College City, with limited service to Maxwell.

Airports

Colusa County Airport is a general-aviation airport located near the city of Colusa. The closest major airport is in Sacramento.

Communities

Cities

* Colusa (county seat) * Williams

Census-designated places

* Arbuckle * College City * Grimes * Lodoga *

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

* Princeton * Stonyford

Unincorporated community

* Sites

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Colusa County. † ''county seat''

California Historical Landmarks

California Historical Landmarks in Colusa County: LettsLakeCalifornia

* Colusa County Courthouse built in 1861,. * Letts Valley settled in 1855 by Jack and David Lett. Marker at Letts Lake Campground at Letts Lake. * Swift's Stone Corral, built by Granville P. Swift in 1850.Swift's Stone Corral
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

*
Colusa County Sun HeraldColusa County Guide
{{Authority control California counties Sacramento Valley 1850 establishments in California Populated places established in 1850 Majority-minority counties in California California placenames of Native American origin