Sierra County

Sierra County, California

Sierra County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California, northeast of Sacramento on the border with Nevada. As of 2000 the population was 3,555. The county seat is Downieville.

The only incorporated city in the county is Loyalton.

History

Sierra County was formed from parts of Yuba County in 1852. The county derives its name from the Sierra Nevada.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 962 square miles (2,491 km²), of which, 953 square miles (2,469 km²) of it is land and 9 square miles (22 km²) of it (0.89%) is water.

Cities and towns

Adjacent Counties

National protected areas

Transportation Infrastructure

Major Highways

State Route 49 (Golden Chain Highway)
State Route 89
County Route A23
County Route A24 (Beckwith Road)
Henness Pass Road – traverses entire county from west to east; links Graniteville in Nevada County with Verdi, Nevada
Stampede Dam Road – links with Boca Reservoir near Truckee
Gold Lake Road/Highway – links with SR 89 at Graeagle via Gold Lake

Also,

U.S. Route 395 – only passes by the locality of Peavine between Hallelujah Junction and Border Town, Nevada
Interstate 80 – serves only as a link between Nevada County, California and the State of Nevada

Public Transportation

Public transportation in Sierra County is limited to vans run by senior citizen agencies in Downieville and Loyalton. (The general public may ride on a space-available basis)

Airports

Sierraville-Dearwater Field Airport is a general aviation airport located near Sierraville.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,555 people, 1,520 households, and 986 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile (1/km²). There were 2,202 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.18% White, 0.20% Black or African American, 1.88% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.04% from other races, and 2.45% from two or more races. 5.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 16.5% were of Irish, 14.4% English, 10.5% German, 9.8% American and 7.5% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.3% spoke English and 3.4% Spanish as their first language.

There were 1,520 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.9 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,827, and the median income for a family was $42,756. Males had a median income of $36,121 versus $30,000 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,815. About 9.0% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Presidential election results
Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2004	64.1% 1,249	33.2% 646	2.7% 53
2000	63.5% 1,172	29.2% 540	7.3% 135
1996	51.4% 877	33.6% 573	15.1% 257
1992	36.9% 691	34.8% 653	28.3% 531
1988	50.7% 860	46.6% 791	2.7% 45
1984	56.9% 1,078	41.2% 781	2.0% 37
1980	49.8% 855	37.9% 651	12.3% 212
1976	43.2% 680	53.4% 841	3.5% 55
1972	47.5% 629	49.7% 658	2.8% 37
1968	45.9% 548	46.9% 559	7.2% 86
1964	33.3% 413	66.7% 828
1960	46.8% 576	52.6% 647	0.7% 8

Sierra is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Sierra is part of California's 4th congressional district, which is held by Republican John Doolittle. In the state legislature Sierra is in the 3rd Assembly district, which is held by Republican Rick Keene, and the 1st Senate district, which is held by Republican Dave Cox.

Trivia

Because Loyalton is Sierra County's most populous municipality and its only incorporated city, generally half of the meetings of the county's board of supervisors are held in Downieville and the other half are held in Loyalton.
There was only one traffic signal in Sierra County. In the winter of 2007 it was removed after an automobile accident.