Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, 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 U.S. state of

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 census, the population was 55,620. 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 ...

and only incorporated city is

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

. Tuolumne County comprises the Sonora, CA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The county is in 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 ...

region.

The northern half of

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 ...

is located in the eastern part of the county.

Etymology

The name ''Tuolumne'' is of Native American origin and has been given different meanings, such as Many Stone Houses, The Land of Mountain Lions, and Straight Up Steep, the latter an interpretation of William Fuller, a native Chief. Mariano Vallejo, in his report to the first

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). ...

, said that the word is "a corruption of the Native American word ''talmalamne'' which signifies 'cluster of stone wigwams.'" The name may mean "people who dwell in stone houses," i.e., in caves.

History

Tuolumne County Boundaries One of California's original 27 counties, Tuolumne was organized in 1850. Prior to the official naming of counties by the state, Tuolumne was sometimes referred to as Oro County. The original lines of Tuolumne County were not long established. In 1854 and 1855 the portion of Tuolumne County that extended west into the San Joaquin Valley was reorganized as Stanislaus County. In 1864 a number of the original counties including Tuolumne contributed lands that would lead to the establishment of Alpine County to the northeast. With the State's Adoption of the Political Code in 1872 the current boundaries of Tuolumne County were largely established as shown in the maps below. Tuolumne map

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.4%) is water. A California Department of Forestry document reports Tuolumne County's include federal lands such as Yosemite National Park,

Stanislaus National Forest Stanislaus National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest which manages of land in four counties in the Sierra Nevada in Northern California. It was established on February 22, 1897, making it one of the oldest natio ...

, Bureau of Land Management lands, and Indian reservations. Notable landforms in the county include

Table Mountain Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...

Special Districts

Special districts in Tuolumne County include: * Belleview Elementary School District * Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District * Chinese Camp Elementary School District * Columbia Fire District * Columbia Union Elementary School District * Curtis Creek Elementary School District * Groveland Community Services District * Jamestown Elementary School District * Jamestown Fire District * Mi-Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection District * Sonora Elementary School District * Sonora Union High School District * Soulsbyville Elementary School District * Strawberry Fire District * Summerville Elementary School District * Summerville Union High School District * Tuolumne County Air Pollution Control District * Tuolumne County Water District No. 1 * Tuolumne Fire District * Tuolumne Regional Water District * Tuolumne Utilities District * Twain Harte Fire District * Twain Harte-Long Barn Union Elementary School District * Yosemite Community College District

Adjacent counties

Alpine County, California Alpine County is a county in the eastern part of the U.S. state of California located within the Sierra Nevada on the state border with Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,204, making it California's least populous county. T ...

- north * Calaveras County, California - northwest *

Stanislaus County, California Stanislaus County ( ; ) is a County (United States), county located in the San Joaquin Valley of the U.S. state of California. As of 2023, its estimated population is 564,404. The county seat is Modesto, California, Modesto. Stanislaus County ...

- southwest * Mariposa County, California - south *

Madera County, California Madera County (), officially the County of Madera, is a County (United States), county located at the geographic center of the U.S. state of California. It features a varied landscape, encompassing the eastern San Joaquin Valley and the central ...

- southeast *

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 ...

- east * Merced County, California - southwest

Geographical features

;Environmental * Red Hills (Tuolumne County) ( Area of Critical Environmental Concern) *

(National protected area, part) *

(NPA, part) ;Valleys * Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne * Lone Gulch * Tiltill Valley

Transportation

Major highways

California State Route 49 * California 108

California State Route 108 * California 120

California State Route 120 * California 132

California State Route 132

Public transportation

Tuolumne County Transit bus routes radiate from Sonora to serve most of the county. In Columbia, a connection can be made to Calaveras County Transit. There is no public transportation into or out of Tuolumne County that connects to any of the closest metropolitan areas. Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS) makes a single daily round trip from Sonora into Yosemite Valley during the summer months.

Airports

Columbia Airport and Pine Mountain Lake Airport are both general aviation airports located in the Southwest and Northeast corners of the county respectively.

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

Demographics

2020 census

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010 census

The 2010 United States census reported that Tuolumne County had a population of 55,365. The racial makeup of Tuolumne County was 48,274 (87.2%)

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 ...

, 1,143 (2.1%)

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 ...

, 1,039 (1.9%) Native American, 572 (1.0%) Asian, 76 (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 ...

, 2,238 (4.0%) from other races, and 2,023 (3.7%) 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 5,918 persons (10.7%).

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, there were 54,501 people, 21,004 households, and 14,240 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 28,336 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 89.5%

, 2.1%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 1.8% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.2%

, 2.9% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. 8.2% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 94.7% spoke English and 3.5% Spanish as their first language. There were 21,004 households, out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.82. In the county, the population was spread out, with 20.7% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 111.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $38,725, and the median income for a family was $44,327. Males had a median income of $35,373 versus $25,805 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 county was $21,015. About 8.1% of families and 11.4% 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 16.2% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.

Government and policing

The Government of Tuolumne County is established and defined by the California Constitution and is a five-member elected Board Of Supervisors who serve four year elected terms. The government provides services such as elections and voter registration, law enforcement, jails, vital records, property records, tax collection, public health, and social services. The Board is the government for all unincorporated areas. Sonora is the only incorporated city in Tuolumne County.

Sheriff and Police

The Tuolumne County Sheriff provides court protection, jail administration, and coroner services for the entire county. It provides patrol and detective services for the unincorporated areas of the county. Within the city limits of Sonora, patrol and detective services are served by the Sonora Police Department.

Politics

Voter registration statistics

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

Tuolumne county tends to vote Republican in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win the county was

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. In the 2008 presidential election, 14,988 votes were counted for

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

with former president

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

receiving 11,532 votes. Tuolumne County is in . In the state legislature Tuolumne is in the 8th Assembly district, which is held by Republican Jim Patterson and the 4th Senate district, which is held by Republican Marie Alvarado-Gill.

Communities

City

(county seat)

Census-designated places

* Cedar Ridge * Chinese Camp * Cold Springs * Columbia * East Sonora * Groveland * Jamestown * Long Barn * Mi-Wuk Village * Mono Vista * Phoenix Lake * Pine Mountain Lake * Sierra Village * Soulsbyville *

Strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

* Tuolumne * Tuttletown * Twain Harte

Unincorporated communities

Bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

Confidence Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...

* Dardanelle *Deadwood * Mather * Moccasin * Pinecrest *

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

* Standard

Population ranking

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

Explanatory notes

References

External links

*
Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority's Web Site
{{coord, 38.02, -119.94, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-CA_source:UScensus1990 1850 establishments in California California counties Populated places established in 1850