Dorris is a city in

Siskiyou County, California Siskiyou County ( ) is a county (United States), county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 44,076. Its county seat is Yreka, California, Yre ...

, United States. Its population was 860 as of the 2020 census, down from 939 in the 2010 census. The only attractions are the flagpole and county library. The most notable people who have been residents of Dorris are two athletes who were born here.

Geography

Dorris is located at (41.965075, −121.918967). It is located in the Butte Valley of northern California between

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( ; Shasta people, Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk language, Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a Volcano#Volcanic activity, potentially active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. A ...

and the

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

border on U.S. Route 97. 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 ...

, the city has a total area of , 97.81% of it land and 2.19% of it water.

History

The town was named in 1907 by the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

for brothers Presley A. and Carlos J. Dorris who raised stock in Little Shasta in the 1860s before moving to Dorris' Bridge on the

Pit River The Pit River is a major river draining from northeastern California into the state's Central Valley. The Pit, the Klamath and the Columbia are the only three rivers in the U.S. that cross the Cascade Range. The longest tributary of the Sa ...

, renamed

Alturas, California Alturas ( Spanish for "Heights"; Achumawi: ''Kasalektawi'') is the only incorporated city in Modoc County, California of which it is also the county seat. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, the city had a population ...

in 1876.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Dorris had a population of 860. The population density was . The racial makeup of Dorris was 495 (57.6%)

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 ...

, 3 (0.3%)

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 ...

, 15 (1.7%) Native American, 18 (2.1%) Asian, 0 (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 ...

, 182 (21.2%) from other races, and 147 (17.1%) from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

of any race were 339 persons (39.4%). The whole population lived in households. There were 318 households, out of which 109 (34.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 139 (43.7%) were married-couple households, 26 (8.2%) were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 90 (28.3%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 63 (19.8%) had a male householder with no partner present. 81 households (25.5%) were one person, and 43 (13.5%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.7. There were 207

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 ...

(65.1% of all households). The age distribution was 236 people (27.4%) under the age of 18, 57 people (6.6%) aged 18 to 24, 208 people (24.2%) aged 25 to 44, 206 people (24.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 153 people (17.8%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 36.9years. For every 100 females, there were 100.9 males. There were 365 housing units at an average density of , of which 318 (87.1%) were occupied. Of these, 203 (63.8%) were owner-occupied, and 115 (36.2%) were occupied by renters.

2010

At the 2010 census, Dorris had a population of 939. The population density was . The racial makeup was 764 (81.4%) White, 19 (2.0%) African American, 18 (1.9%) Native American, 5 (0.5%) Asian, 8 (0.9%) Pacific Islander, 77 (8.2%) from other races, and 48 (5.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race numbered 197 people (21.0%). The entire population lived in households; no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters or was institutionalized. There were 364 households, 125 (34.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 171 (47.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 47 (12.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 23 (6.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 33 (9.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1 (0.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 106 households (29.1%) were one person and 44 (12.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.58. There were 241 families (66.2% of households); the average family size was 3.15. The age distribution was 240 people (25.6%) under the age of 18, 91 people (9.7%) aged 18 to 24, 216 people (23.0%) aged 25 to 44, 256 people (27.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 136 people (14.5%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 38.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males. There were 414 housing units at an average density of 576.5 per square mile. 248 (68.1%) of the occupied units were owner-occupied and 116 (31.9%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.2%. 584 people (62.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 355 people (37.8%) lived in rental housing units.

Local attractions

Notable locations in town include the Dorris Branch of the Siskiyou County Public Library, Dorris City Hall, Dorris Fire Department, two schools, the Siskiyou County Dorris-Tulelake Branch Courts and the Butte Valley Museum. Dorris is home to what was once the country's tallest flagpole west of the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, and still the tallest west of the

Rockies The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. It is tall, and flies a flag tall by wide. It was surpassed in 2002 by a 300-foot pole in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a villag ...

and in 2014 by a 400-foot pole in

Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan () is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, which has a pop ...

Infrastructure

U.S. Highway 97 is a major north–south

United States highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

and divides Dorris from southeast to northwest.

California State Route 161 State Route 161 (SR 161) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs along the California–Oregon state line in Siskiyou County. It begins at U.S. Route 97 north of Dorris and goes east to the intersection of SR 139 and Ore ...

joins Highway 97 just north of Dorris. The Butte Valley Airport is a county-owned public-use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

located southwest of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

of Dorris. The

Butte Valley National Grassland Butte Valley National Grassland is a United States National Grassland located in northern California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Klamath National Forest, it is located in northern Siskiyou County, near the Oregon border, ...

is a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

National Grassland A national grassland is an area of protected area, protected and managed federal lands in the United States authorized by Title III of the Bankhead–Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937 and managed by the United States Forest Service. For administrati ...

located between Dorris and Macdoel along Highway 97.

Education

The Butte Valley Unified School District administers the elementary, middle and high school in Dorris. The Butte Valley High School Bulldogs are members of the Evergreen League, a

high school sports Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time they spend competing a ...

league whose athletic teams are members of the Northern Section of the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have s ...

Government

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

, Dorris is in , and . Federally, Dorris is in .

Notable people

* Bernie Hughes,

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 ...

player was born in Dorris. *

Nelson Briles Nelson Kelley Briles (August 5, 1943 – February 13, 2005) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. A hard thrower whose best pitch was a slider, he exhibited excellent control. Briles batted and threw right-handed. He was a starting pitch ...

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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

born in DorrisNelson Briles Stats
Baseball Almanac, 2013

References

External links

City WebsiteButte Valley Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Incorporated cities and towns in California Cities in Siskiyou County, California