Ripley 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 ...
community in east
Riverside County
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...
. It is located along
State Route 78 (SR78) between
Palo Verde and
Blythe. The area is mostly agricultural lands irrigated by
Colorado River
The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
water. The elevation is .
[ The population was 692 at the 2010 census.
]
History
Ripley was established in 1920 when the California Southern Railroad (unrelated to the railroad linking Barstow and San Diego) was extended from Blythe. The townsite was named to dedicate former Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Railroad classes, Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996.
The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight tra ...
president Edward Payson Ripley
Edward Payson Ripley (October 30, 1845 – February 4, 1920), sometimes referred to as Edward P. Ripley or E. P. Ripley, was the fourteenth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
Youth and education
Ripley was born on Octob ...
.water tower
A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...
remains as a landmark in town.
Ripley is near the site of a 1974 fatal bus wreck.
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 covers an area of , all of it land. Alongside Blythe and Palo Verde, Ripley is located in the Palo Verde Valley
The Palo Verde Valley ( Spanish: ''Valle de Palo Verde'') is located in the Lower Colorado River Valley, next to the eastern border of Southern California with Arizona, United States. It is located on the Colorado Desert within the Sonoran Des ...
.
Official U.S. Geological Survey NAD27 coordinates for the community are . It is within area code 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 Califor ...
and has its own ZIP Code: 92272.
Climate
This area has a large amount of sunshine year round due to its stable descending air and high pressure. 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, Ripley has a desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
, abbreviated "Bwh" on climate maps.
Situation
The area is largely irrigated agriculture. Farms in the area include operations owned by David Brown and Sons, Lawrence Chaffin Farms, and Red River Farms. The Metropolitan Water District has made an agreement with the United States Bureau of Reclamation
The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operatio ...
to fallow land in the area in order to conserve water. Farmers will be paid not to grow crops so that the water can be used for other purposes. The area is served by Palo Verde Irrigation District and formerly the Arizona and California Railroad
The Arizona and California Railroad is a class III short line railroad that was a subdivision of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). The ARZC began operations on May 9, 1991, when David Parkinson of the ParkSierra RailGroup purchas ...
. The railroad's Blythe Division track ends just west of Ripley.
Demographics
The 2020 United States census reported that Ripley had a population of 538. The population density was . The racial makeup of Ripley was 122 (22.7%) 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 ...
, 59 (11.0%) 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 ...
, 8 (1.5%) Native American, 2 (0.4%) 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 ...
, 216 (40.1%) from other races, and 131 (24.3%) 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 396 persons (73.6%).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, 73 (37.6%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 44 (22.7%) had a male householder with no partner present. 53 households (27.3%) were one person, and 24 (12.4%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.77.[ There were 131 ]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 ...
(67.5% of all households).[
There were 270 housing units at an average density of , of which 194 (71.9%) were occupied. Of these, 62 (32.0%) were owner-occupied, and 132 (68.0%) were occupied by renters.][
]
References
*U.S. Geological Survey, National Geographic Names Database
*Map: "Ripley, California, 7.5-minute Quadrangle," U.S. Geological Survey, 1975.
*Map: "Road Map of California, 1958," (Sacramento, California: Department of Public Works, Division of Highways, 1958).
External links
Ripley weather records from University of California Agricultural Extension.
Wind and other data from Ripley.
Riverside County Fire Station 44.
{{authority control
Census-designated places in Riverside County, California
Populated places in the Colorado Desert
Communities in the Lower Colorado River Valley
Populated places in the Sonoran Desert
Census-designated places in California