Ukiah ( ;

Pomo The Pomo are a Indigenous peoples of California, Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to ...

: ''Yokáya'', meaning "deep valley" or "south valley") is 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 largest city of

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...

, in the North Coast region 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 ...

. Ukiah had a population of 16,607 at the 2020 census. With its accessible location along the

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

corridor, Ukiah serves as the city center for Mendocino County and much of neighboring Lake County.

History

The region has been inhabited by the

for thousands of years. The modern area of Ukiah derives its name from the Pomo village (band) of Yokáya, meaning "deep valley" or "south valley".Online Archive of California - The ethno-geography of the Pomo and neighboring Indians
/ref>

Russian Era

Russian American company led by commander Ross visited Ukiah and the Russian River in 1750, during their exploration of the Alaskan Northwest and Hawaii. Eventually Point Cabrillo was visited and named by the Spanish explorers, although Cabrillo only lived in San Diego and never visited the point. The land was inhabited by Pomo natives who lived as hunter gatherers until the time. Some Chinese explorers visited as well during the early times of Chinatown San Francisco and the building of the railroad lines.

Mexican era

Ukiah is located within Rancho Yokaya, one of several Spanish colonial

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s in what their colonists called ''

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

''. The Yokaya grant, which covered the majority of the Ukiah valley, was named for the

word meaning "deep valley." The

are the indigenous people who occupied the area at the time of Spanish colonization. Later European-American settlers adopted "Ukiah" as an anglicized version of this name for the city. Cayetano Juárez was granted Ukiah by Alta California. He was known to have a neutral relationship with the local Pomo people. He sold a southern portion of the grant (toward present-day Hopland) to the Burke brothers. The first Anglo settler in the Ukiah area was John Parker, a ''

vaquero The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

'' who worked for pioneer cattleman James Black.Lyman Palmer
''History of Mendocino County, California, Comprising Its Geography, Geology, Topography, Climatography, Springs and Timber.''
San Francisco, CA: Alley, Bowen and Co., 1880; pg. 475. Black had driven his stock up the Russian River valley and took over a block of grazing land at that locale. A crude blockhouse was constructed for Parker so he could have shelter to protect the herd from the hostile indigenous local people, who resented the squatters on their land. The blockhouse was located just south of present-day Ukiah on the banks of what was known as Wilson Creek. Following the U.S. Conquest of California, the region passed from Mexican to American sovereignty.

Early American era

In 1865, Samuel Lowry built a log cabin approximately on the corner of today's East Perkins and North Main streets. Lowery sold his claim to A.T. Perkins in the spring of 1857, and the latter moved his family into the valley. They were the first Anglo-American pioneer family of the township. Six others followed to make their home there that same year. The first United States post office opened in 1858. By 1859, the population of Ukiah had grown to about 100 people, making it a community sufficient in size to serve as the

. Before this, administrative duties for

had been handled by

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

.Palmer, ''History of Mendocino County, California,'' pg. 476. Initially visitors could reach town only by

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

, or private horses. A short rail line from San Francisco terminated in Petaluma, nearly to the south. In 1870 the remainder of the trip to Ukiah took another two days by horse.Carl Purdy, "Ukiah, 1870-1890: Interesting Reminiscences; Progress Made; Products of Our Valley," ''Dispatch-Democrat'' kiah City vol. 21, no. 15 (January 10, 1890), pg. 2. In subsequent years the rail line was extended further northward to Cloverdale. Although the stagecoach portion was reduced to , the community was still relatively isolated and slow to develop. Ukiah was incorporated in 1876. It was not until 1889 that the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad completed its line from Cloverdale to Ukiah, linking the Mendocino County seat to the national rail network. Ukiah has been the hub of an agricultural and business community. Over the decades various commodity crops have been grown in the Ukiah Valley. They include pears, green beans, hops, apricots, and grapes. As part of California's Wine Country, grapes have become the predominant agricultural product.

Hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

were once a major crop grown around Ukiah. The beer flavoring agent was first grown there in 1868 when L.F. Long of Largo grew an initial experimental crop. The climate proved suitable for the crop and production expanded, peaking in 1885. It declined in the last years of the 1880s as prices dropped. Mendocino County remained the third-largest producer of hops in the state of California in 1890, with well over under cultivation. Production continued well into the 20th century. A refurbished hop

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

can be seen at the north end of Ukiah east of Highway 101, where many of the old fields were located.

20th century

Ukiah's 20th-century population developed in relation to the lumber boom of the late 1940s. Logging of

redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

s was once a major industry. Activists have worked to preserve areas of redwood forest, which became endangered due to overlogging. Young people entered the area from the 1960s, seeking alternative lifestyles and, in some cases, artisan and rural living.

Geography

Ukiah is in southeastern Mendocino County in the valley of the Russian River, a south-flowing river which reaches the Pacific in Sonoma County. Via

, Ukiah is north of Santa Rosa and south of Eureka. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city covers an area of , of which , or 0.93%, are water.

Climate

Ukiah has a hot-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Csa''). Average rainfall for the area is per year. Measurable precipitation occurs on an average of 77.1 days per year. The greatest monthly precipitation was in January 1909 and the greatest 24-hour precipitation was on December 22, 1964. The wettest "rain year" was from July 1997 to June 1998 with and the driest from July 1976 to June 1977 with . Light snowfall occurs about every other year. The greatest recorded snowfall was on March 2, 1976, while the most in a month was in March 1896 and January 1952. Temperatures reach on an average of 61.0 afternoons annually and on an average of 8.7 afternoons. Due to frequent low humidity, summer temperatures normally drop into the fifties at night. Freezing temperatures occur on an average 33.6 mornings per year. The record high temperature was on September 6, 2022, and July 6, 2024. The record low temperature was on January 12, 1898.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Ukiah had a population of 16,607. The population density was . The racial makeup of Ukiah was 58.8%

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 ...

, 1.1%

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 ...

, 4.2% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 0.2%

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 ...

, 18.1% from other races, and 14.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 32.8% of the population. The census reported that 96.2% of the population lived in households, 1.7% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 2.1% were institutionalized. There were 6,584 households, out of which 30.9% included children under the age of 18, 34.9% were married-couple households, 8.2% were cohabiting couple households, 36.0% had a female householder with no partner present, and 20.9% had a male householder with no partner present. 35.5% of households were one person, and 18.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.43. There were 3,753

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 ...

(57.0% of all households). The age distribution was 23.2% under the age of 18, 8.2% aged 18 to 24, 27.4% aged 25 to 44, 22.6% aged 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 38.2years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. There were 6,952 housing units at an average density of , of which 6,584 (94.7%) were occupied. Of these, 42.7% were owner-occupied, and 57.3% were occupied by renters.

2023 estimates

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 13.3% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 73.9% spoke only English at home, 21.9% spoke Spanish, 1.3% spoke other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, 2.9% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.0% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 84.4% were high school graduates and 22.9% had a bachelor's degree. The median household income was $67,122, and 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 ...

was $36,541. About 10.7% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line.

Economy

Major employers in Ukiah include: *

* Ukiah Valley Medical Center *

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

* Granite Construction *

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

* Lucky * Federal Express

Major products

Ukiah is known for wine production. Some very large production wineries, including Brutocao, Fife, Parducci, Frey, and Bonterra, have become established here since the late 20th century. Ukiah was previously a major producer of

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

s. Alex R. Thomas & Company owned hundreds of acres of Bartlett pear orchards on the east side of the Ukiah Valley. For nearly 90 years, many local residents and

migrant workers A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

have been employed packing the pears for domestic and foreign consumption. On December 1, 2008, the company announced it would be shutting down major operations at the end of the year due to bankruptcy. Several acres of orchard have been torn down and replaced with vineyards since the packing shed closed its doors. As of 2011, the main facility was slated to reopen as a composting and trash-sorting facility.

Arts and culture

Institutions of the arts include: * SPACE - School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education * Ukiah Players Theatre * The Mendocino Ballet * Ukiah Civic Light Opera * Grace Hudson Museum * Ukiah Symphony Orchestra * Ukiah Community Concert Association * The Spring House

Recreation

* Alex R. Thomas Plaza * Gardner Park * Giorno Park * Great Redwood Trail * Low Gap Park * McGarvey Park * Oak Manor Park * Observatory Park * Orchard Park * Riverside Park * Todd Grove Park * Ukiah Skate Park * Ukiah Sports Complex * Vinewood Park

Government

Ukiah uses a council–manager form of government in which policy is set by a five-member city council, elected at-large to four-year terms. The council appoints both the mayor and the city manager. * Mayor until December 2025 - Douglas Crane (appointed by council based on seniority for a one-year term) * City council: ** Susan Sher, Vice Mayor ** Juan Orozco, Council Member ** Heather Criss, Council Member ** Mari Rodin, Council Member * City Manager - Sage Sangiacomo * City Treasurer - Allen Carter * City Clerk - Kristine Lawler (appointed) * City Attorney - David Rapport 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). ...

, Ukiah is in , and . 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 ...

, Ukiah is in . The tribal headquarters of both the Pinoleville Pomo Nation and the Potter Valley Tribe are in Ukiah.

Transportation

The Amtrak Thruway 7 bus provides daily connections to/from Ukiah (with a curbside stop at 397 North Orchard Avenue) and Martinez to the south, to/from

Arcata Arcata (; ; ) is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first founded in 1850 as Union, was officially ...

to the north. Additional

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

connections are available from Martinez station.

Education

Ukiah Unified School District

Ukiah High School Ukiah High School (also referred to as UHS or "Ukiahi") is the oldest public high school in Ukiah, California, Ukiah, California, the county seat, seat of Mendocino County, California, Mendocino County. Established in 1893, it is the largest scho ...

* Calpella Elementary School * Eagle Peak Middle School (Redwood Valley) * Nokomis Elementary School * Oak Manor Elementary School * Pomolita Middle School * South Valley High School * Yokayo Elementary School * Frank Zeek Elementary School * Tree of Life Montessori Charter School * Grace Hudson Elementary School * River Oak Charter School * Ukiah Independent Study Academy * Calpella Preschool * Preschool Village * Small Wonders State Preschool * Yokayo State Preschool * Ukiah Adult School

Other K–12 schools

* Sequoia Career Academy * Redwood Collegiate Academy * Deep Valley Christian School * Ukiah Junior Academy * Instilling Goodness / Developing Virtue School * St. Mary of the Angels Catholic School

Former K–12 schools

* Trinity School for Children (closed as of July 31, 2009)

Colleges

* Mendocino College * Dharma Realm Buddhist University

Notable people

* AFI lead vocalist

Davey Havok David Paden Marchand (born David Paden Passaro, November 20, 1975), known professionally as Davey Havok, is an American singer who is the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band AFI (band), AFI, the synth-pop band Blaqk Audio, the hardcore pu ...

, guitarist Jade Puget, drummer Adam Carson, and tour managers Jake MacLachlan and Smith Puget were all raised in Ukiah, as were original-lineup guitarist Mark Stopholese and bassist Vic Chalker. *

Phoebe Bridgers Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter. Her indie folk music typically centers on acoustic guitar and Electronic music, electronic production, with melancholic lyrical themes. She has won four Grammy Aw ...

, three-time Grammy-nominated singer, spent part of her childhood in Ukiah. * Ed Burke, U.S. Olympic

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

er * Aurelius O. Carpenter, photographer * Melissa Chaty, beauty queen, Miss California in 2008 * McKenna Faith, singer-songwriter * Shiloh Fernandez, actor, born and raised in Ukiah * Robben Ford, blues guitarist, raised in Ukiah * Casey Frey, social media comedian and dancer, born and raised in Ukiah * Sally Miller Gearhart, feminist and lesbian author and activist, died in Ukiah * Grace Hudson, museum founder, collector of

artifacts, commercial portrait photographer The Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah is named for her and houses her collections. * Leonard Lake, serial killer, lived near Ukiah in the early 1980s * Mary McNair Mathews (1834–1903), Nevada historian, died in Ukiah * Darrell McClure, cartoonist of Little Annie Rooney and illustrator, born in Ukiah to painter Ethel Jameson Docker * Don Mossi, Major League Baseball pitcher for several teams * Holly Near, singer-songwriter, born in Ukiah * Nick 13, lead singer of

Tiger Army Tiger Army is an American psychobilly band based in Los Angeles, California. The group was formed in 1996 in Berkeley, California, and its only constant member is singer, guitarist, and lead songwriter Nick 13. The band has released six studi ...

, raised in Ukiah * Hal Perry, professional basketball player and civil-rights lawyer, raised in UkiahHarold Leonard Perry Sr.
Inside Bay Area from May 3–4, 2009, accessed October 10, 2013 * Bay Raitt, animator and video game designer known for developing Gollum's facial modeling in the ''Lord of the Rings'' films and various other works *

Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears foo ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

quarterback, spent four years of his childhood in Ukiah * Carl Sassenrath, architect of operating systems and computer languages, created the Amiga computer operating system in 1985, later worked at

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

, subsequently moved to and runs his own company at his Ukiah ranch * William Harrison Standley,

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...

and later U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, born in Ukiah * Gary Scott Thompson, television and film screenwriter and producer, graduated from Ukiah High School in 1977 * Rick Warren, pastor, author and Ukiah High School graduate

In popular culture

* "Ukiah" is the name and subject of a song on the 1973

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock music, rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their Vocal harmony, vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five d ...

album '' The Captain and Me''. * "Ukiah" is the name and subject of the fifth song from Robert Francis' album ''Heaven''. * Ukiah is featured prominently in C.D. Payne's novel '' Youth in Revolt''. * Ukiah is one of six original locations of an

International Latitude Observatory __NOTOC__ The International Latitude Service was created by the International Association of Geodesy, International Geodetic Association in 1899 to study variations in latitude caused by polar motion, Precession (astronomy), precession, or Chandl ...

. * Competing in the men's Division III club level bracket, the Mendocino Steam Donkeys Rugby Football Club

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team, based in the Ukiah area, are the first official NCRFU team in the county. * Ukiah was the initial home in California of Peoples Temple. * Ukiah's newspaper is the '' Ukiah Daily Journal''. * Ukiah was named in the 1987 '' Dragnet'' film as being where Frank Smith, Joe Friday's partner, moved to after quitting the force and buying a goat farm.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1876 establishments in California Cities in Mendocino County, California County seats in California Incorporated cities and towns in California Logging communities in the United States Populated places established in 1856 Populated places established in 1876