Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 47,662 at the 2000 census.

Colton is the site of Colton Crossing, one of the busiest at-grade railroad crossings in the United States. The main transcontinental trunk lines of Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe cross at this point. As traffic on each line has soared since the mid-1990s, fueled largely by the vast increase in imports passing through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the primitive crossing has become a serious bottleneck. The crossing was installed in August 1882 by the California Southern Railroad to cross the Southern Pacific Railroad's tracks while building northward from San Diego.

Geography

Colton is located at (34.064945, -117.321687).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 40.7 km² (15.7 mi²). 39.1 km² (15.1 mi²) of it is land and 1.5 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (3.76%) is water.

Famous Residents

• Cam Carreon (1937-1987) - baseball player
• Kit Carson (1912-1983) - baseball player
• George Caster (1907-1955) - baseball player
• Nicholas Porter Earp (1813-1907) - father of Wyatt Earp
• Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) - frontier lawman
• Virgil Earp (1843-1905) - frontier lawman, older brother of Wyatt Earp
• Ken Hubbs (1941-1964) - Chicago Cubs rookie of the year 1962
• Jeremy Suarez (b. 1990) - The Bernie Mac Show
• Kat Von D (b.1982)- famous tatto artist, star of LA Ink
• Gene Evans (1922-1998) - Western actor
• Jimmy Webb (1946-) - Songwriter
• Jim Messina (1947-) - musician (Buffalo Springfield, Loggins & Messina)
• Rodolfo Hernandez (1931-) - Medal of Honor recipient, Korean War
• Rich Dauer - baseball player (World Series champs Baltimore Orioles)
• Dennis Crane - football player, Detroit Lions
• Susan Woodstra (1957-) - Olympic silver medalist, 1984 Games, women's volleyball
• 40 Glocc A.K.A. Lawrence White * - Rapper from Infamous/G-Unit/ZooLife Entertainment

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 47,662 people, 14,520 households, and 10,904 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,217.9/km² (3,154.3/mi²). There were 15,680 housing units at an average density of 400.7/km² (1,037.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 42.68% White, 11.01% African American, 1.26% Native American, 5.29% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 34.46% from other races, and 5.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 60.71% of the population.

There were 14,520 households out of which 46.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 19.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.26 and the average family size was 3.76.

In the city the population was spread out with 34.9% under the age of 18, 11.9% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,777, and the median income for a family was $37,911. Males had a median income of $32,152 versus $25,118 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,460. About 18.2% of families and 19.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

In the state legislature Colton is located in the 31st and 32nd Senate Districts, represented by Republican Robert Dutton and Democrat Gloria Negrete McLeod respectively, and in the 62nd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Wilmer Carter. Federally, Colton is located in California's 41st and 43rd congressional districts, which have Cook PVIs of R +9 and D +10 respectively and is represented by Republican Jerry Lewis and Democrat Joe Baca.

History

Colton was named after Civil War General David Colton who was also the Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.

Virgil Earp lived in Colton at 528 W. "H" Street where he was the town's first Marshall. He resided in Colton from 1883 to 1889. Morgan Earp is buried at Hermosa Cemetery

Notes & References

External links

• City of Colton
• Colton Joint Unified School District