Lee Vining (formerly Leevining, Poverty Flat, and Lakeview) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

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

Mono County, California Mono County ( ) is a county (United States), county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. T ...

, United States. It is located south-southeast of

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

. Lee Vining is located on the southwest shore of

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a Salt lake, saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes Hypersaline lake, high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake ...

. The population was 217 as of the 2020 census.

History

The town was named after Leroy Vining, who founded the town in 1852 as a

mining camp A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historical mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendig ...

. In 1926, the town was laid out by Chris Mattly and named "Lakeview", but when a post office was sought in 1928, it was learned that another town,

Lakeview, California Lakeview is a census-designated place (CDP) in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census, up from 1,619 at the 2000 census. The community is named for nearby Mystic Lake. Geography According to the ...

, already had the name. The name of Lee Vining was chosen in 1953. The place was also called "Poverty Flat" for its unfavorable conditions for agriculture.

Geography

Lee Vining is in western Mono County along U.S. Route 395, at the eastern base 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 ...

. US 395 leads northwest to Bridgeport, the Mono

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, and southeast the same distance to the junction for

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes is the only incorporated town in Mono County, California, United States. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 7,191, reflecting a ...

California State Route 120 State Route 120 (SR 120) is a state highway in the central part of California, connecting the San Joaquin Valley with the Sierra Nevada, Yosemite National Park, and the Mono Lake area. It runs between Interstate 5 in California, Interstate 5 in L ...

climbs west from Lee Vining to the top of

Tioga Pass Tioga Pass is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. State Route 120 runs through it, and serves as the eastern entry point for Yosemite National Park, at the Tioga Pass Entrance Station. It is the highest elevation ...

, the east entrance to

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

. 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 Lee Vining CDP covers an area of , 99.95% of it land and 0.05% of it water.

Climate

Lee Vining, on the boundary between the

and

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

ecoregions, has a transitional climate: warmer and drier than the mountains to the west but cooler and much snowier than the vast desert to the east. Despite only getting of water-equivalent precipitation annually, the town averages nearly of snow, sometimes falling as late as April or even May. Precipitation is highest in the winter months of December through March, but some can be expected to fall every month of the year, and the town does not typically experience the four to six month dry spells of more coastal parts of California.

Economy

The economy of Lee Vining relies largely on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, since it is the closest town to the east entrance of

, and is near other tourist destinations such as Mono Lake, the ghost town of Bodie, popular trout fishing destinations, and

June Mountain June Mountain ski area is a ski resort, winter resort in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, located near June Lake, California, June Lake, southeast of Yosemite National Park. Mountains June Mountain ski area consists of two mountains, R ...

and

Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera County, California, Madera and Mono County, California, Mono counties. It is home to a large Mammoth Mounta ...

ski areas, and the June Lake recreational area. Although off-season tourism has increased in recent years, most tourists visit in the summer months because State Route 120 through Yosemite is often closed otherwise because of heavy snowfall in the winter. Lee Vining has a year-round information center for visitors.

Sights

Lee Vining is situated near the foot of Lee Vining Canyon. State Route 120 runs from town, through the canyon, up to

. Lee Vining Canyon is one of only two

ice climbing Ice climbing is a climbing discipline that involves ascending routes consisting entirely of frozen water. To ascend, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes (or the more modern ice tools) and rigid crampons. ...

venues in California. U.S. Route 395 also runs through the town, connecting to Los Angeles to the south, and

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, ...

to the north. Gus Hess Park commemorates an early miner in Lee Vining. The town is the site of the Upside-Down House, a distinctive local landmark built by silent film actress Nellie Bly O'Bryan. Also located in the town is the Whoa Nellie Deli, which was once described by the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' as "a misplaced Fellini set carved into the edge of the Mono Basin, dust devils skipping around in the distance like extras on the floor of Owens Valley." The Lee Vining Airport lies near the town. The ZIP Code is 93541. The community is inside

area codes 442 and 760 Area codes 760 and 442 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of California. These area codes serve an overlay complex that comprises much of the southeastern and southernmost portions of Californ ...

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Lee Vining had a population of 217. The population density was . The racial makeup of Lee Vining was 104 (47.9%)

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 (1.4%)

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 ...

, 22 (10.1%) Native American, 0 (0.0%) 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 ...

, 35 (16.1%) from other races, and 53 (24.4%) 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 109 persons (50.2%). The census reported that 203 people (93.5% of the population) lived in households, 14 (6.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 88 households, out of which 30 (34.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 43 (48.9%) were married-couple households, 8 (9.1%) 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, 20 (22.7%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 17 (19.3%) had a male householder with no partner present. 33 households (37.5%) were one person, and 15 (17.0%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.31. There were 50

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 ...

(56.8% of all households). The age distribution was 46 people (21.2%) under the age of 18, 17 people (7.8%) aged 18 to 24, 52 people (24.0%) aged 25 to 44, 64 people (29.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 38 people (17.5%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 42.5years. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males. There were 114 housing units at an average density of , of which 88 (77.2%) were occupied. Of these, 37 (42.0%) were owner-occupied, and 51 (58.0%) were occupied by renters.

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). ...

, Lee Vining 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 ...

, Lee Vining is in .

Education

Lee Vining is in the

Eastern Sierra Unified School District The Eastern Sierra Unified School District is a public school district in Mono County, California. The District is responsible for educating students within one of the largest geographical attendance areas of the 1,028 public schools in the sta ...

.Mono County Office of Education
/ref> An elementary school and a high school (

Lee Vining High School Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

) are located in Lee Vining. Lee Vining also has a public library.

References

External links

*
Lee Vining Chamber of Commerce

Mono Lake website
{{authority control Census-designated places in California Census-designated places in Mono County, California Populated places in the Sierra Nevada (United States) Populated places established in 1852 1852 establishments in California