Mono County ( ) is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the east central portion of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. The

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 ...

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 ...

. The county is located east 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 ...

between

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 ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. The only incorporated town in the county is Mammoth Lakes, which is located at the foot of

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 ...

. Other locations, such as June Lake, are also famous as skiing and fishing resorts. Located in the middle of the county is

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 ...

, a vital habitat for millions of migratory and nesting birds. The lake is located in a wild natural setting, with pinnacles of

tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitation (chemistry), precipitate out of water in ambient temperature, unheated rivers or lakes. hot spring, Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less ...

arising out of the salty and alkaline lake. Also located in Mono County is Bodie, the official state

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

, which is now a California State Historic Park.

History

Mono County was formed in 1861 from parts of Calaveras,

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

and Mariposa counties. A portion of northern Mono County contributed to the formation of Alpine County in 1864; parts of the county's territory were given to Inyo County in 1866. The county is named after

which, in 1852, was named for a Native American Paiute tribe, the Mono people, who historically inhabited the

from north of Mono Lake to Owens Lake. The tribe's western neighbors, the Yokuts, called them ''monachie,'' meaning " fly people" because they used fly

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e as their chief food staple and trading article. Archeologists know almost nothing about the first inhabitants of the county, as little material evidence has been found from them. The Kuzedika, a band of Paiute, had been there many generations by the time the first anglophones arrived. The Kuzedika were

hunter-gatherers A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, especially w ...

and their language is a part of the Shoshone language.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.6%) is water. The highest point in Mono County is White Mountain Peak which, at , is the third-highest peak in

Adjacent counties

* Inyo County - south * Fresno County - southwest * Madera County - southwest * Tuolumne County- west * Alpine County - northwest *

Douglas County, Nevada Douglas County is a County (United States), county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,488. Its county seat is Minden, Nevada, Minden. Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ran ...

- north *

Lyon County, Nevada Lyon County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 59,235. Lyon County is a part of the Reno metropolitan area. History Lyon County was one of the ...

- northeast * Mineral County, Nevada - east * Esmeralda County, Nevada - southeast

Demographics

2021

In June 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked the county with the third best life expectancy in the United States at 96.5 years old.

2020 census

2011

2010 Census

The 2010 United States census reported that Mono County had a population of 14,202. The racial makeup of Mono County was 11,697 (82.4%)

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 ...

, 47 (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 ...

, 302 (2.1%) Native American, 192 (1.4%) Asian, 11 (0.1%)

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 ...

, 1,539 (10.8%) from other races, and 414 (2.9%) 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 3,762 persons (26.5%).

Politics

Voter registration

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

In November 2008, Mono County was one of just three counties in California's interior in which voters rejected Proposition 8 which sought to ban gay marriage. The county's voters rejected Proposition 8 by 55.5 percent to 44.5 percent. The other interior counties in which Proposition 8 failed to receive a majority of votes were neighboring Alpine County and Yolo County. Mono County is in . In the state legislature Mono is in the 5th Assembly district, which is held by Republican Joe Patterson, and the 4th Senate district, which is held by Republican Marie Alvarado-Gil.

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

* U.S. Route 6 * U.S. Route 395 * California 89

State Route 89 * California 108

State Route 108 * California 120

State Route 120 * California 158

State Route 158 * California 167

State Route 167 * California 168

State Route 168 * California 182

State Route 182 * California 203

State Route 203 * California 266

State Route 266 * California 270

State Route 270

Public transportation

Eastern Sierra Transit Authority operates intercity bus service along U.S. 395, as well as local services in Mammoth Lakes. Service extends south to

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the popul ...

(Los Angeles County) and north to

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, ...

. Yosemite Area Regional Transit System (YARTS) also runs along U.S. 395 from Mammoth Lakes to Lee Vining before entering

Airports

General aviation airports in Mono County include Bryant Field near Bridgeport, Mammoth Yosemite Airport and Lee Vining Airport. In December 2021, seasonal commercial air service by

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

began at the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, providing local service to southern Mono County.

Communities

Town

* Mammoth Lakes

Census-designated places

* Aspen Springs * Benton *

(county seat) * Chalfant * Coleville * Crowley Lake * June Lake * Lee Vining * McGee Creek * Mono City *

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

* Sunny Slopes * Swall Meadows *

Topaz Topaz is a silicate mineral made of aluminium, aluminum and fluorine with the chemical formula aluminium, Alsilicon, Sioxygen, O(fluorine, F, hydroxide, OH). It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural ...

* Twin Lakes * Virginia Lakes * Walker

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Mono County. † ''county seat''

Notes

References

External links

*
Mono County Film and Tourism Commission
{{authority control California counties California placenames of Native American origin Sierra Nevada (United States) 1861 establishments in California Populated places established in 1861