Glen Ellen is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Sonoma Valley Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards a ...

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

, United States. The population was 784 at the 2010 census, down from 992 at the 2000 census. Glen Ellen is the location of Jack London State Historic Park (including the Wolf House), Sonoma Valley Regional Park, and a former home of Hunter S. Thompson. The whole of Glen Ellen was severely damaged by the Nuns Fire during the

October 2017 Northern California wildfires The October 2017 Northern California wildfires, also known as the Northern California firestorm, North Bay Fires, and the Wine Country Fires were a series of 250 wildfires that started burning across the state of California, United States, ...

History

In 1859,

Charles V. Stuart Charles V. Stuart (May 9, 1819 – August 13, 1880) was a California pioneer and delegate to the California Constitutional Convention of 1878-79, where he distinguished himself as the only delegate to speak out in defense of the rights of Chinese ...

purchased a part of the Rancho Agua Caliente land grant and in 1868 began building a house there, eventually establishing a vineyard he named Glen Ellen after his wife. The town that grew up around the vineyard also came to be called Glen Ellen, and Stuart's home was later renamed Glen Oaks Ranch. In October 2017, the area was badly affected by

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

Geography

Glen Ellen is about northwest of the city of Sonoma. 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 ...

fixes the total area at , 99.95% of it land and 0.05% covered by water. Sonoma Creek, the principal river of the

, flows through Glen Ellen.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Glen Ellen had a population of 714. The population density was . The racial makeup of Glen Ellen was 567 (79.4%)

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 ...

, 2 (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 ...

, 7 (1.0%) Native American, 22 (3.1%) Asian, 2 (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 ...

, 39 (5.5%) from other races, and 75 (10.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 91 persons (12.7%). The census reported that 96.8% of the population lived in households, 3.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 316 households, out of which 54 (17.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 153 (48.4%) were married-couple households, 22 (7.0%) 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, 85 (26.9%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 56 (17.7%) had a male householder with no partner present. 96 households (30.4%) were one person, and 58 (18.4%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.19. There were 196

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 ...

(62.0% of all households). The age distribution was 80 people (11.2%) under the age of 18, 33 people (4.6%) aged 18 to 24, 148 people (20.7%) aged 25 to 44, 201 people (28.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 252 people (35.3%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 56.8years. For every 100 females, there were 94.6 males. There were 408 housing units at an average density of , of which 316 (77.5%) were occupied. Of these, 217 (68.7%) were owner-occupied, and 99 (31.3%) were occupied by renters.

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Glen Ellen had a population of 784. The population density was . The racial makeup of Glen Ellen was 693 (88.4%)

, 3 (0.4%)

, 9 (1.1%) Native American, 16 (2.0%) Asian, 3 (0.4%)

, 18 (2.3%) from other races, and 42 (5.4%) 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 67 persons (8.5%). The Census reported that 98.3% of the population lived in households and 1.7% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 364 households, out of which 74 (20.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 172 (47.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 26 (7.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 14 (3.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 23 (6.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 6 (1.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 122 households (33.5%) were made up of individuals, and 34 (9.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12. There were 212

(58.2% of all households); the average family size was 2.67. The population was spread out, with 126 people (16.1%) under the age of 18, 37 people (4.7%) aged 18 to 24, 142 people (18.1%) aged 25 to 44, 376 people (48.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 103 people (13.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 51.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.2 males. There were 421 housing units at an average density of , of which 60.4% were owner-occupied and 39.6% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.0%. 60.5% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 37.9% lived in rental housing units.

Points of interest

Writer

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

lived in Glen Ellen from 1909 to his death in 1916, where he devoted much of his time to development of his Beauty Ranch and the building of his mansion, Wolf House. Many of his novels and stories, notably ''

The Iron Heel ''The Iron Heel'' is a dystopian and political novel in the form of science fiction by American writer Jack London, first published in 1908. Plot The main premise of the book is the rise of a socialist mass movement in the United Statesstrong ...

'' and '' The Valley of the Moon'' mention Glen Ellen and Sonoma County. (" The Valley of the Moon" is a translation of

's name given by the

Pomo The Pomo are a Indigenous peoples of California, Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to ...

and Coast Miwok peoples.) The site of his ranch is now Jack London State Historic Park, which contains the ruins of Wolf House, several ranch buildings, the grave of Jack and Charmian London, and a museum housed in Charmian London's "House of Happy Walls". The Sonoma Developmental Center is located just outside Glen Ellen near the Jack London ranch. Its predecessor, the California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children, was the setting for Jack London's story "Told in the Drooling Ward." Glen Ellen is located in the Wine Country and is part of the Sonoma Mountain AVA. Like all the communities in

, Glen Ellen is home to many vineyards and wineries including B.R. Cohn Winery, Benziger Family Winery, Mayo Family Winery, and Valley of the Moon Winery. Quarryhill Botanic Garden, located near Glen Ellen, is a research botanical garden housing with one of the largest collections of temperate Asian plants in North America. Quarryhill's collection includes rare species such as ''Acer pentaphyllum'', ''Cornus capitata'', ''Holboellia coriacea'', ''Illicium simonsii'', and ''Rosa chinensis var. spontanea'', all native to Sichuan, China, as well as extensive collections of various wild Asian dogwoods, lilies, magnolias, maples, oaks, roses, and rhododendrons. Quarryhill is open to the public. Dunbar Elementary School was the second oldest school in California, until it closed in 2023.

Government

In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, Glen Ellen is in , and in . In the

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 ...

, Glen Ellen is in .

Education

The school district is Sonoma Valley Unified School District.
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Notable people

Mary Ellen Pleasant Mary Ellen Pleasant (August 19, 1814 – January 11, 1904) was an American entrepreneur, financier, real estate magnate and abolitionist. She was arguably the first self-made millionaire of African-American heritage, preceding Madam C. J. Walke ...

, Abolitionist, Entrepreneur * M. F. K. Fisher, food writer * Albert E. Kahn, journalist, photographer, and author *

Bernie Krause Bernard L. Krause (born December 8, 1938) is an American musician and soundscape ecologist. In 1968, he founded Wild Sanctuary, an organization dedicated to the recording and archiving of natural soundscapes. Krause is an author, a bio-acoustici ...

, musician and soundscape ecologist *

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter ( ; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, a ...

, animator, film director, screenwriter, and producer *

, novelist, journalist, and social activist * Tilden Daken, landscape painter and California impressionist * Hunter S. Thompson, journalist and author * Nikita Ducarroz, BMX freestyle cyclist and Olympic medalist *Chandler Lucy, musician

References

External links

*
City InfoGlen Ellen Historical SocietyFrom Champagne to California (1850)
{{authority control Census-designated places in Sonoma County, California Sonoma Valley Census-designated places in California