History Of Nevada County, California

Nevada County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 102,241. The county seat is Nevada City. Nevada County comprises the Truckee- Grass Valley micropolitan statistical area, which is also included in the Sacramento- Roseville combined statistical area, part of the Mother Lode Country.

History

Created in 1851, from portions of Yuba County, Nevada County was named after the mining town of Nevada City, a name derived from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The word ''nevada'' is Spanish for "snowy" or "snow-covered". Charles Marsh was one of the first settlers in what became Nevada City, and is perhaps the one who named the town. He went on to build extensive water flumes/ditches/canals in the area, and was influential in the building of the first transcontinental railroad and the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Nevada City was the first to use the word "Nevada" in its name. In 1851, the newly formed Nevada County used the same name as the county seat. The bordering state of Nevada used the same name in 1864. The region came to life in the Gold Rush of 1849. Many historical sites remain to mark the birth of this important region in California's formative years. Among them are the Nevada Theatre in Nevada City, the oldest theater built in California in 1865. It operates to this day and once hosted Mark Twain, among other historical figures. The Old 5 Mile House stagecoach stop, built in 1890, also operates to this day as a provider of hospitality spanning three centuries. This historical site still features "The stagecoach safe" that is on display outside the present-day restaurant and is the source of many legends of stagecoach robbers and notorious highwaymen in the California gold rush era. The gold industry in Nevada County thrived into the post-WWII days.

The county had many firsts and historic technological moments. The first long-distance telephone in the world, built in 1877 by the Ridge Telephone Company, connected French Corral with French Lake, away. It was operated by the Milton Mining Company from a building on this site that had been erected about 1853. The Pelton wheel, designed to power gold mines, still drives hydroelectric generators today. Nevada City and Grass Valley were among the first California towns with electric lights. The Olympics, NASA, and virtually every television station around the country uses video/broadcasting equipment designed and manufactured by Grass Valley Group, founded in Grass Valley.

The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad, built in 1876, was the only railroad in the West that was never robbed, though its primary freight was gold. (Builder-owner John Flint Kidder's reputation made it clear that he would personally hunt down and kill anyone who tried.) The rail line closed in 1942 and was torn up for scrap.

In Grass Valley, the historic Holbrooke Hotel opened in 1851 and housed Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and four U.S. Presidents ( Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, and James A. Garfield).

The community of Rough and Ready seceded from the Union for a time and became the Great Republic of Rough and Ready.

Nevada County is home to the Empire Mine State Historic Park, which is the site of one of the oldest, deepest, and richest gold mines in California. The park is in Grass Valley at 10791 East Empire Street. In operation for more than 100 years, the mine extracted 5.8 million ounces of gold before it closed in 1956.

In 1988, the 49er Fire was accidentally started near Highway 49 by a homeless local man who was suffering from undiagnosed schizophrenia. The fire went on to burn well over 100 homes and more than 33,000 acres in Nevada County.

The 2001 Nevada County shootings occurred on January 10, 2001, in which Scott Harlan Thorpe murdered three people in a shooting spree. Two of the victims were murdered in Nevada City and a third victim was killed in Grass Valley. Thorpe was arrested and declared not guilty by reason of insanity. He currently resides in Napa State Hospital.

Boundary dispute with Sierra County

Since the enactment of the statute in which the California State Legislature defined the common boundary between Nevada and Sierra Counties in 1874, no survey was conducted to determine where the straight line segment of the common boundary between the two counties ran. In particular, the statute, at the time codified as Section 3921 of the California Political Code, at the time stated:

Since the line had never been surveyed and the legislature never defined where the "point east of the source of the South Fork of the Middle Yuba River" was, the location of the straight air line between the state line and this point was unknown. As such, both counties claimed that the point east of the source, which itself was also unknown, was located in different places. This created a situation where a strip of land averaging 1.22 miles in width and around 31.29 square miles were under dispute, with Sierra County claiming that Nevada County was encroaching on their jurisdiction when attempting to levy property taxes. The trial court of Plumas County, sided with Sierra County, declaring that the disputed area had always belonged to Sierra, since the legislature defined the boundary in dispute by referencing Public Land Survey System lines. It also determined that the source of South Fork of the Middle Yuba was that of several springs in the Sierra Nevada, rather than the artificial English Lake, which ceased to exist after the failure of its dam in 1883, which is where the source of the South Fork was in the eyes of Nevada County. The California Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision on December 28, 1908.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of (1.6%) are covered by water. The county is drained by Middle and South Yuba Rivers.

The western part of the county is defined by the course of several rivers and the irregular boundaries of adjoining counties. When the county was created, the founders wanted to include access to the transcontinental railroad, so a rectangular section was added that includes the railroad town of Truckee.

Nevada County is one of four counties in the United States to border a state with which it shares the same name (the other three counties are Texas County, Oklahoma; Delaware County, Pennsylvania; and Ohio County, West Virginia).

Ecology

The county has substantial areas of forest, grassland, savanna, riparian area, and other ecosystems. Forests include both coniferous- and oak-dominated woodland types. Also, numerous understory forbs and wildflowers occur, including the yellow mariposa lily ('' Calochortus luteus'').

Adjacent counties

* Sierra County - north
* Washoe County, Nevada - east
* Placer County - south
* Yuba County - west

National protected areas

* Tahoe National Forest (part)
* Toiyabe National Forest (part)

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010 Census

The 2010 United States census reported that Nevada County had a population of 98,764. The racial makeup of Nevada County was 90,233 (91.4%) White, 389 (0.4%) African American, 1,044 (1.1%) Native American, 1,187 (1.2%) Asian, 110 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 2,678 (2.7%) from other races, and 3,123 (3.2%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 8,439 persons (8.5%).

2000

As of the census of 2000, 92,033 people, 36,894 households, and 25,936 families resided in the county. The population density was . The 44,282 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.4% White, 0.3% African American, 0.9% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 2.0% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. About 5.7% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. Regarding ancestry,16.4% were German, 16.3% English, 11.1% Irish, 6.8% Italian, and 6.6% American, according to Census 2000; 94.0% spoke English and 4.2% Spanish as their first language.

Of the 36,894 households, 28.7% had children under 18 living with them, 57.6% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were not families. About 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.47, and the average family size was 2.88.

In the county, the age distribution was 23.1% under 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,864, and for a family was $52,697. Males had a median income of $40,742 versus $27,173 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,007. About 5.5% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.5% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Voter registration

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Nevada County has 78,736 registered voters. Of those, 24,677 (36%) are registered Democrats, 22,252 (32.3%) are registered Republicans, 9,426 (13.76%) are registered to another party, and 7,845 (11.5%) have declined to state a political party. In both 2000 and 2004, George W. Bush won a majority of the votes in the county. In 2008, Barack Obama carried the county with a 51.5%–46.2% margin. 2008 marked the first time Nevada County went for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. In 2012, Obama lost by a narrow margin to Mitt Romney, turning the county red once again, only for Hillary Clinton to win it back in 2016 over Donald Trump. Joe Biden won the county in 2020 with the largest share of votes for a presidential candidate in recent elections, continuing its Democratic shift. Kamala Harris won the county in 2024, though with a slightly smaller percentage of the vote compared to Biden.

Nevada County is located in California's 3rd congressional district represented by

In the state legislature, Nevada County is in and in the State Senate, the county is in .

On November 4, 2008, Nevada County voted for Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages by three votes, the narrowest margin of any county in the state.

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 80
* State Route 20
* State Route 49
* State Route 89
* State Route 174
* State Route 267

Public transportation

*Nevada County Connects, operated by Nevada County, runs fixed route bus service in Grass Valley, Nevada City, Penn Valley, Alta Sierra and Lake of the Pines. A connection is available between Grass Valley and Auburn (Placer County).
* Tahoe Area Rapid Transit, operated by Placer County, has a route connecting Truckee with Lake Tahoe and the state of Nevada. Truckee also has its own local bus service.
*Greyhound buses and Amtrak's California Zephyr stop in Truckee.
*YubaBus offers Charter and Shuttle Bus service in and around Western Nevada County.

Nevada County Now is the paratransit bus company providing door to door service for seniors and persons with disabilities in Grass Valley, Nevada City, and Penn Valley.

Airports

Nevada County Air Park is a general-aviation airport located just east of Grass Valley.

Truckee Tahoe Airport is a general-aviation airport in Truckee, partially in Nevada County and partially in Placer County.

Alta Sierra Airport is a private-aviation airport located south of Grass Valley.

Communities

Cities

* Grass Valley
* Nevada City (county seat)

Town

* Truckee

Census-designated places

* Alta Sierra
* Floriston
* Graniteville
* Kingvale
* Lake of the Pines
* Lake Wildwood
* North San Juan
* Penn Valley
* Rough and Ready
* Soda Springs
* Washington

Other unincorporated communities

* Anthony House – Nisenan Indian territory
* Birchville
* Blue Tent
* Boca
* Boreal
* Cedar Ridge
* Cherokee Township
* Chicago Park
* French Corral
* Lake City
*Malakoff Diggings
* Moores Flat
* Nevada City Rancheria – Nisenan Indian government settlement area
* Norden
* North Bloomfield
* North Columbia
* Ophir Hill
* Peardale
* Ready Springs
* Sunset District
* Sweetland
* You Bet
*Wolf

Ghost town

* Meadow Lake (previously: Excelsior; Summit City)

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Nevada County.

† ''county seat''

Notable residents

* Jennie Carter, 19th Century writer and journalist
* Molly Fisk, inaugural Nevada County Poet Laureate
* Lyman Gilmore, a contemporary of the Wright Brothers who developed early powered aircraft and operated the world's first commercial air field in Grass Valley. There is also evidence he may have flown before the Wright brothers, though this claim is doubted.
* Alice Maud Hartley, killed Nevada State Senator Murray D. Foley by gunshot in 1894
*Founding member of the British rock band Supertramp, Roger Hodgson lives in Nevada County.
*Herbert Hoover, President of the United States. Hoover lived in Nevada City as a young mining engineer after graduating from Stanford University.
*Former Troubled Assets Relief Program head Neel Kashkari lives in the county as part of his "Washington detox".
* Charles Litton Sr., a resident and entrepreneur of Nevada County who assisted Raytheon in the development of the magnetron tube.
* Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots and founder of Citizens for Self-Governance
* Gertrude Penhall (1846–1929), civic leader, clubwoman, early settler
*Folk singer Utah Phillips lived in Nevada County until his death in 2008.
*Former actor and television announcer Edwin W. Reimers resided in Nevada City at the time of his death in 1986.
*Beat Poet Gary Snyder currently resides in San Juan Ridge in Nevada County.
* Clint Walker, actor.
*National Football League star Ricky Williams lives in the county.
* Chuck Yeager, pilot and first man to break the sound barrier
* John Christopher Stevens, American career diplomat and lawyer who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from May 22, 2012, to September 11, 2012. Stevens was killed when the U.S. Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked in 2012 by radical Islamic terrorists. He was born in Grass Valley and is buried in the local cemetery. A memorial to him was created in Grass Valley's downtown area.
* Joanna Newsom, an American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and actress. Born and raised in Northern California, Newsom was classically trained on the harp in her youth, and began her musical career as a keyboardist in the San Francisco-based indie band The Pleased.

See also

* List of school districts in Nevada County, California
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Nevada County, California

Notes

References

*

Further reading

*Bean, E. F. (1867)
Bean's History and directory of Nevada county, California ... With sketches of the various towns and mining camps ... Also full statistics of mining and all other industrial resources
Nevada, Cal.: Printed at the Daily Gazette Book and Job Office.
*Comstock, D. A. (1998)
Catalog of historical landmarks and dedicated sites in Nevada County, California
NCHS books. Nevada City, Calif: Nevada County Historical Society.
*Comstock, D. A. (2004)
News and advertising in the early gold camps of Nevada County, California: Volume one – 1850 through 1852
Grass Valley, Calif: Comstock Bonanza Press.
*Comstock, D. A., & Comstock, A. H. (1999)
Nevada County vital statistics, 1850–1869 (and up to 1876 for divorces): births, marriages, separations, divorces, naturalizations, and deaths in Nevada County, California, as compiled from county records, cemeteries, newspapers, letters, diaries, and family records, plus a list of clergymen who served in Nevada County during those same years
Nevada County pioneers series, v. 1. Grass Valley, Calif: Comstock Bonanza Press.
*Foley, D., Kelly, L., & Book, S. (1975)
The Maidu Indians of Nevada County, California

*Nevada County (Calif.). (1915)
Nevada County, state of California: the home of deep producing gold mines and prolific fruit orchards
Grass Valley, Calif: Union Pub. Co.
*Nevada County Promotion Committee. (1904)
Nevada County, California: the most prosperous mining county of the United States, where good mines are found in a country with a pereect [sic] climate and all the comforts of civilization
[Nevada City, Calif.]: Nevada County Promotion Committee.
*Pastron, A. G., Walsh, M. R., & Clewlow, C. W. (1990)
Archaeological and ethnohistoric investigations at CA-NEV-194, near Rough and Ready, Nevada County, California
Archives of California prehistory, no. 31. Salinas, CA: Coyote Press.
*True, G. H. (1973)
The ferns and seed plants of Nevada County, California
San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences.
*Wells, H. L. (1880)
History of Nevada County, California with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and manufactories
Oakland, CA: Thompson & West.
*Wyckoff, R. M. (1962)
Hydraulicking: a brief history of hydraulic mining in Nevada County, California
Nevada City, Calif: Osborn/Woods.

External links

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California counties
Counties in the Sacramento metropolitan area
1851 establishments in California
Populated places established in 1851