Copperopolis, California

Copperopolis is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 3,400 at the 2020 census, up from 3,671 at the 2010 census. The town is located along State Route 4 and is registered as California Historical Landmark #296.

History

Unlike most of the mining towns in the Calaveras County, Copperopolis' claim to fame is not gold, but copper. It was founded in 1860 by William K. Reed, Dr. Allen Blatchly, and Thomas McCarty, at the site of the second major discovery of copper ore in the region (the first was nearby Telegraph City).

William K. Reed and Thomas McCarty founded the Union Copper Mine (and later the Keystone & Empire mines). In 1862, Reed sold out his interest in the mines and built a toll road from Copperopolis through Telegraph City. It connected with a road running westerly into Stockton. This road was called "Reeds Turnpike" and remained a toll road until 1865. Copperopolis was on the main stage road from Sonora to Sacramento.

The town grew rapidly, as the need for copper during the Civil War for material was great. The copper was sent to Stockton and then to San Francisco, where it was loaded onto ships and taken around Cape Horn before finally arriving in smelters on the East Coast.

After the war ended, mining and shipping copper proved too expensive and the population dwindled as the mines closed. However, a Boston company purchased the mines in the 1880s and mining operations resumed. The town went through boom periods during the two World Wars, when demand for copper went up again. By the time the mines closed in 1946, according to the U.S. Bureau of Mines, they had produced 72,598,883 pounds of copper worth over $12 million (). No copper mining has been done since.

The first post office was established in 1861.

Copperopolis has four buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

File:2009-0724-CA-052-CopperopolisArmory.jpg, Copperopolis Armory
File:2009-0724-CA-CopperopolisCongregational.jpg, Copperopolis Congregational Church
File:2009-0724-CA-052-HonigsbergerStore.jpg, Honigsberger Store
File:2009-0724-CA-052-ReedsStore.jpg, Reed's Store

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which less than 1 percent is water.

Climate

Copperopolis has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification ''Csa'').

There are cool winters during which intense rainfall is broken by weeks of cool, sunny weather. It has hot, dry summers with no rainfall in July and August.

Snow is rare in Copperopolis, averaging only per year, entirely in winter months.

Demographics

Copperopolis first appeared as a census designated place in the 2000 U.S. Census.

2020 census

The 2020 United States census reported that Copperopolis had a population of 3,400. The population density was . The racial makeup of Copperopolis was 80.0% White, 1.0% African American, 1.3% Native American, 1.8% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 3.9% from other races, and 11.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.3% of the population.

The whole population lived in households. There were 1,399 households, out of which 24.2% included children under the age of 18, 57.5% were married-couple households, 7.4% were cohabiting couple households, 18.3% had a female householder with no partner present, and 16.8% had a male householder with no partner present. 22.1% of households were one person, and 11.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.43. There were 989 families (70.7% of all households).

The age distribution was 18.2% under the age of 18, 5.1% aged 18 to 24, 20.6% aged 25 to 44, 30.1% aged 45 to 64, and 25.9% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 51.1years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males.

There were 1,761 housing units at an average density of , of which 1,399 (79.4%) were occupied. Of these, 80.9% were owner-occupied, and 19.1% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $107,643, and the per capita income was $48,733. About 6.6% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line.

Politics

In the state legislature, Copperopolis is in , and . Federally, Copperopolis is in .

Literature

Copperopolis is near Tuttletown, which has a shack on Jack Ass Hill, where Mark Twain is supposed to have written one of his most famous works, " The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". Author K. Martin Gardner expounds on this literary history, and Twain's friendship with renowned scientist of the time, Nikola Tesla, in his novel ''Copperopolis.''

See also

References

External links

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Census-designated places in Calaveras County, California
California Historical Landmarks
Populated places established in 1860
1860 establishments in California
Census-designated places in California