Tulelake ( ) is a city in northeastern

Siskiyou County, California Siskiyou County ( ) is a county (United States), county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 44,076. Its county seat is Yreka, California, Yre ...

, United States. The town is named after nearby Tule Lake. Its population is 902 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,010 from the 2010 census. Tulelake

peace officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or police officer or peace officer in North American English, is a public-sector or private-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws, protecting life & property, keeping the peace, ...

s are authorized by state law, along with cooperation of the state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, to serve as and be recognized as peace officers within Malin, Oregon, along with the inverse being true for peace officers employed within Malin, wherein they are recognized as peace officers within Tulelake by the

California Penal Code The Penal Code of California forms the basis for the application of most criminal law, criminal procedure, penal institutions, and the execution of sentences, among other things, in the United States, American state of California. It was origin ...

History

The first public auction of Tulelake land parcels took place on April 15, 1931. Over 100 lots were sold for prices ranging from $65 to $350. In 1937, the city was incorporated. Today there are over 400 housing units. Two

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 ...

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

s were located near Tulelake. Camp Tulelake was an Italian and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

to the west of town, located on Hill Road along Sheepy Ridge. Also referred to as Gillems Bluff, Sheepy Ridge is a small range adjacent to Tule Lake. The other internment camp housed nearly 18,000

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

s and Japanese alien residents and was in operation from May 1942 to March 1946. The

Tule Lake War Relocation Center The Tule Lake War Relocation Center, also known as the Tule Lake Segregation Center, was an Internment of Japanese Americans, American concentration camp located in Modoc County, California, Modoc and Siskiyou County, California, Siskiyou count ...

was one of ten Japanese internment camps in the United States. It was located approximately seven miles southeast of Tulelake. Today the western portion of the camp is occupied by the townsite of Newell. Nightfire Island, an archeological site over 5000 years old, is west of Tule Lake along the shores of Indian Tom Lake.

Geography

Tulelake is located near the Siskiyou-Modoc County line. At the northwest corner of the Great Basin and Range. 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 city has a total area of , 99.42% of it land and 0.58% of it water.

Climate

Tulelake has a

steppe climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...

(BSk) 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.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Tulelake had a population of 902. The population density was . The racial makeup of Tulelake was 251 (27.8%)

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 ...

, 2 (0.2%)

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 ...

, 15 (1.7%) Native American, 3 (0.3%) Asian, 1 (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 ...

, 329 (36.5%) from other races, and 301 (33.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 677 persons (75.1%). The whole population lived in households. There were 283 households, out of which 144 (50.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 148 (52.3%) were married-couple households, 25 (8.8%) 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, 61 (21.6%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 49 (17.3%) had a male householder with no partner present. 45 households (15.9%) were one person, and 25 (8.8%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.19. There were 220

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 ...

(77.7% of all households). The age distribution was 309 people (34.3%) under the age of 18, 81 people (9.0%) aged 18 to 24, 224 people (24.8%) aged 25 to 44, 185 people (20.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 103 people (11.4%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 30.2years. For every 100 females, there were 102.7 males. There were 361 housing units at an average density of , of which 283 (78.4%) were occupied. Of these, 162 (57.2%) were owner-occupied, and 121 (42.8%) were occupied by renters.

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Tulelake had a population of 1,010. The population density was . The racial makeup of Tulelake was 563 (55.7%)

, 1 (0.1%)

, 15 (1.5%) Native American, 1 (0.1%) Asian, 0 (0.0%)

, 365 (36.1%) from other races, and 65 (6.4%) 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 601 persons (59.5%). The Census reported that 1,010 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 347 households, out of which 158 (45.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 177 (51.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 43 (12.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 20 (5.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 24 (6.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0 (0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 93 households (26.8%) were made up of individuals, and 43 (12.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91. There were 240

(69.2% of all households); the average family size was 3.58. The population was spread out, with 340 people (33.7%) under the age of 18, 102 people (10.1%) aged 18 to 24, 244 people (24.2%) aged 25 to 44, 222 people (22.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 102 people (10.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males. There were 437 housing units at an average density of , of which 173 (49.9%) were owner-occupied, and 174 (50.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 6.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 12.1%. 473 people (46.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 537 people (53.2%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, the median

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. F ...

for a household in the city was $23,750, and the median income for a family was $27,750. Males had a median income of $28,088 versus $22,500 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $10,244. About 33.7% of families and 34.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 46.2% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Government

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

Tulelake is in , and . Federally, Tulelake is in .

Education

There are two schools in the Tulelake Basin Joint Unified School District, preschool through sixth grades are taught at Tulelake Elementary, where the mascot is the Gosling, a reflection of area waterfowl. Tulelake High School, located in the town of Tulelake, instructs grades seven through twelve, and its mascot is the Honker, a slang term for the

Canada goose The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North A ...

Infrastructure

Tulelake has a municipal airport.

In popular culture

Tulelake is featured by

Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...

in ''

California's Gold ''California's Gold'' was a public television human interest program that explores the natural, cultural, and historical features of California. The series ran for 24 seasons beginning in 1991, and was produced and hosted by Huell Howser in coll ...

'' Episode 204. A goose and duck processing business and pillow factory in Tulelake was featured on an episode of

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

's series ''

Dirty Jobs ''Dirty Jobs'' is an American television series that originally aired on the Discovery Channel in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the job's current employees. The sho ...

''.

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

nicknamed his two-year-old girl

Modoc Modoc may refer to: Ethnic groups *Modoc people, a Native American/First Nations people ** Modoc language ** Modoc Nation, a federally recognized tribe of Modoc * Modoc War, the last armed resistance of the Modoc people in 1873 *The "Modocs", ri ...

due to her tantrums in reference to an incident in 1852 near Tule Lake where the Modoc destroyed an entire wagon train."Twain Had Much To Say About Move Into Hartford House 140 Years Ago"
Steve Courtney, ''The Courant'', September 17, 2014

References

External links

Life in Tulelake BasinTulelake Basin Joint Unified School DistrictTulelake Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in Siskiyou County, California Incorporated cities and towns in California