Herlong 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 ...

in Lassen County,

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 ...

. Herlong is located at the extreme eastern edge of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

Mountain Range in the southeastern region of Honey Lake Valley, north of Doyle, at an elevation of . Its population is 237 as of the 2020 census, down from 298 from the 2010 census. Herlong is located in southern Lassen County near the southeast edge of Honey Lake, about north of

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, and about south of Susanville, the county seat. The community is accessible to U.S. Route 395 via Lassen County Route A25 or Lassen County Route A26.

History

Herlong was developed in 1942 after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, to house civilian workers to support the Sierra Army Depot, one of several ammunition storage facilities located inland in order to be safe from Japanese attack. The site also met the requirement of being a dry and isolated area. The community was named after Captain Henry W. Herlong, the first United States Army ordnance officer to die in World War II. The postal stamps, money orders and equipment bore the spelling "Hurlong", which lasted for about five days; the error was discovered and corrected. In the 21st century, Sierra Army Depot serves as the Army's End of First Life Center and the

CONUS ''Conus'' is a genus of venomous and predatory cone snails.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&i ...

-based Army Prepositioned Stock Site. It continues to provide expeditionary logistics support and long-term sustainment solutions. Since its beginning, the town has varied in size. Its population peaked at about 5,000 in the 1950s, consisting mostly of civilian employees on the base and their families. As of the 2010 census, the community had 298 people. Herlong has several churches, including the Bible Baptist Church, Assembly of God, and

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

. The State Office of Historic Preservation lists 62 historic properties in Herlong on its Historic Properties Data File for Lassen County. This is one of the last counties in California that is still considered to be "open range" land.

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 ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. 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, Herlong has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Herlong, California
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Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Herlong had a population of 298. The population density was . The racial makeup of Herlong was 187 (62.8%)

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 ...

, 38 (12.8%)

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 ...

, 16 (5.4%) Native American, 1 (0.3%) Asian, 3 (1.0%)

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 ...

, 9 (3.0%) from other races, and 44 (14.8%) 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 46 persons (15.4%). The Census reported that 293 people (98.3% of the population) lived in households, 5 (1.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 116 households, out of which 46 (39.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 32 (27.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 25 (21.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 9 (7.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 16 (13.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 35 households (30.2%) were made up of individuals, and 5 (4.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53. There were 66 families (56.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.21. The population was spread out, with 91 people (30.5%) under the age of 18, 22 people (7.4%) aged 18 to 24, 96 people (32.2%) aged 25 to 44, 80 people (26.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 9 people (3.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males. There were 139 housing units at an average density of , of which 0 (0%) were owner-occupied, and 116 (100%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%; the rental vacancy rate was 14.1%. 0 people (0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 293 people (98.3%) lived in rental housing units.

Government

In the state legislature, Herlong is in , and . Federally, Herlong is in . Texas State Representative John V. Garza and U.S. Representative from Iowa, Mariannette Miller-Meeks were born in Herlong.

References

External links

Historic American Engineering Record Sierra Army Depot

Sierra Army Depot
{{authority control Census-designated places in Lassen County, California Census-designated places in California 1942 establishments in California