State highways in California
The state highway system of the U. S. state of California is a network of highways that are owned and maintained by the Highway Division of the California Department of Transportation. Each highway is assigned a Route number in the Streets and Highways Code. Most of these are numbered in a statewide system, are known as State Route X. United States Numbered Highways are labeled US X, Interstate Highways are Interstate X. Under the code, the state assigns a unique Route X to each highway, does not differentiate between state, US, or Interstate highways; the California Highway Patrol is tasked with patrolling all state highways to enforce traffic laws. California's highway system is governed pursuant to Division 1 of the California Streets and Highways Code. Since July 1 of 1964, the majority of legislative route numbers, those defined in the Streets and Highways Code, match the sign route numbers. For example, Interstate 5 is listed as "Route 5" in the code. On the other hand, some short routes are instead signed as parts of other routes — for instance, Route 112 and Route 260 are signed as part of the longer State Route 61, Route 51 is part of Interstate 80 Business.
Concurrences are not explicitly codified in the Streets and Highways Code. The state may turn them over to local control. If the relinquished segment is in the middle of the highway's route, the local jurisdiction is required to install and maintain signs directing drivers to the continuation of that highway; the state may delete a highway and turn over an entire state route to local control. Business routes are not maintained by the state unless they are assigned legislative route numbers. A few routes or sections of routes are considered unrelinquished - a new alignment has been built, or the legislative definition has changed to omit the section, but the state still maintains the roadway — and are Route XU. There are two such unrelinqushed routes, with State Route 14U, an old alignment of State Route 14, as the most recent example of such, where the process to relinquish 14U started on January 1 of 2018, along with State Route 103U being the other unrelinquished route within the system; some new alignments are considered supplemental and have a suffix of S.
Both types of suffixed routes are considered spurs. Current or former unsigned suffixed routes include State Route 156U, signed as State Route 156 Business through Hollister, State Route 180S, the freeway replacement for State Route 180 in Fresno; the first legislative routes were defined by the State Highway Bond Act in 1909, passed by the California State Legislature and signed by Governor James Gillett. These, extensions to the system, were numbered sequentially. No signs were erected for these routes; the United States Numbered Highways were assigned by the American Association of State Highway Officials in November 1926, but posting did not begin in California until January 1928. These were assigned to some of the main legislative routes in California. Signs were posted by the Automobile Club of Southern California and California State Automobile Association, active in signing national auto trails and local roads since the mid-1900s. In 1934, after the major expansion of the state highway system in 1933 by the California Legislature, California sign route numbers were assigned by the California Division of Highways.
The California sign route numbers were assigned in a geographical system independent of the legislative routes. Odd-numbered routes ran north–south and even-numbered routes ran east–west; the routes were split among southern California and central and northern California as follows: 0 or 1 modulo 4: central and northern California 2 or 3 modulo 4: southern CaliforniaFor instance, State Route 1 and State Route 4 were in central and northern California, State Route 2 and State Route 3 were in southern California. A rough grid was used inside the two regions, with the largest numbers — all less than 200 - in eastern California and near the border between the two regions; the Interstate Highway System numbers were assigned by AASHO in late 1959. In 1963 and 1964, a total renumbering of the legislative routes was made, aligning them with the sign routes; some changes were made to the sign routes related to decommissionings of U. S. Routes in favor of Interstates. Since the 1990s, many non-freeway routes in urban areas, have been deleted and turned over to local control.
This transfers the cost of maintaining them from state to local budgets, but gives local governments direct control over urban arterial roads th
Placer County, California
Placer County the County of Placer, is a county in the U. S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 348,432; the county seat is Auburn. Placer County is included in the Greater Sacramento metropolitan area, it is in what is known as the Gold Country. The county stretches 65 miles from Sacramento's suburbs at Roseville to the Nevada border and the shore of Lake Tahoe; the discovery of gold in 1848 brought tens of thousands of miners from around the world during the California Gold Rush. In addition, many more thousands came to provide services to the miners. Only three years after the discovery of gold, the fast-growing county was formed from portions of Sutter and Yuba counties on April 25, 1851, with Auburn as the county seat. Placer County took its name from the Spanish word for gravel deposits containing gold. Miners washed away the gravel, leaving the heavier gold, in a process known as "placer mining". Gold mining was a major industry through the 1880s, but the new residents turned to farming the fertile foothill soil, harvesting timber and working for the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Auburn was settled when Claude Chana discovered gold in Auburn Ravine in May 1848 and became a shipping and supply center for the surrounding gold camps. The cornerstone of Placer's beautiful and historic courthouse, visible from Interstate 80 through Auburn, was laid on July 4, 1894; the building itself was renovated during the late 1980s and continues to serve the public today with courtrooms, a historic sheriff's office and the Placer County Museum. Roseville, once a small agricultural center, became a major railroad center and grew to the county's most populous city after Southern Pacific Railroad moved its railroad switching yards there in 1908. Loomis and Newcastle began as mining towns, but soon became centers of a booming fruit-growing industry, supporting many local packing houses. Penryn was founded by a Welsh miner, Griffith Griffith, who turned from mining to establish a large granite quarry. Rocklin became home to a number of granite quarries. Lincoln and Sheridan continue to support farming.
Lincoln is the home of one of the county's oldest businesses, the Gladding, McBean terra cotta clay manufacturing plant established in 1875. The 1960 Winter Olympics were hosted in Squaw Valley, located in Placer County. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,502 square miles, of which 1,407 square miles is land and 95 square miles is water. Watercourses in Placer County include the American Bunch Creek. Lake Tahoe has 40.96% of its surface area in Placer County, more than in any of the four other counties in which it lies. Nevada County - north Washoe County, Nevada - northeast Carson City, Nevada - east Douglas County, Nevada - southeast Amador County - east El Dorado County - south Sacramento County - southwest Sutter County - west Yuba County - northwest Eldorado National Forest in part Tahoe National Forest in part The 2010 United States Census reported that Placer County had a population of 348,432; the racial makeup of Placer County was 290,977 White, 4,751 African American, 3,011 Native American, 20,435 Asian, 778 Pacific Islander, 13,375 from other races, 15,105 from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 44,710 persons. As of the census of 2000, there were 248,399 people, 93,382 households, 67,701 families residing in the county; the population density was 177 people per square mile. There were 107,302 housing units at an average density of 76 per square mile; the racial makeup of the county was 88.6% White, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.9% Native American, 3.0% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 3.4% from other races, 3.2% from two or more races. 9.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 15.5% were of German, 12.3% English, 10.6% Irish, 7.1% Italian and 7.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 89.7% spoke only English at home. There were 93,382 households out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 27.5% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.06. In the county, the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 29.00% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males. The median income for a household in the county was $57,535, the median income for a family was $65,858. Males had a median income of $50,410 versus $33,763 for females; the per capita income for the county was $27,963. About 3.9% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over. Unemployment in the county is just under 7%, lower than the state's average. County government is by a five-person four-year term elected board of supervisors with a board-appointed county manager and his/her department administrators; the Placer County Sheriff's Office provides court protection, jail administration, coroner services for all of Placer County.
It provides patrol and other police services for the uni
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California; the news of gold brought 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy, the sudden population increase allowed California to go to statehood, in the Compromise of 1850; the Gold Rush had severe effects on Native Californians and resulted in a precipitous population decline from disease and starvation. By the time it ended, California had gone from a thinly populated ex-Mexican territory, to having one of its first two U. S. Senators, John C. Frémont, selected to be the first presidential nominee for the new Republican Party, in 1856; the effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called "forty-niners". Outside of California, the first to arrive were from Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, Latin America in late 1848.
Of the 300,000 people who came to California during the Gold Rush, about half arrived by sea and half came overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the gold rush attracted thousands from Latin America, Europe and China. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches and other towns were built throughout California. In 1849 a state constitution was written; the new constitution was adopted by referendum vote, the future state's interim first governor and legislature were chosen. In September 1850, California became a state. At the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of "staking claims" was developed. Prospectors retrieved the gold from riverbeds using simple techniques, such as panning. Although the mining caused environmental harm, more sophisticated methods of gold recovery were developed and adopted around the world.
New methods of transportation developed. By 1869, railroads were built from California to the eastern United States. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. Gold worth tens of billions of today's US dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few, though many who participated in the California Gold Rush earned little more than they had started with; the Mexican–American War ended on February 3, 1848, although California was a de facto American possession before that. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided for, among other things, the formal transfer of Upper California to the United States; the California Gold Rush began near Coloma. On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall, a foreman working for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter, found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill Marshall was building for Sutter on the American River. Marshall brought what he found to John Sutter, the two tested the metal.
After the tests showed that it was gold, Sutter expressed dismay: he wanted to keep the news quiet because he feared what would happen to his plans for an agricultural empire if there were a mass search for gold. Rumors of the discovery of gold were confirmed in March 1848 by San Francisco newspaper publisher and merchant Samuel Brannan. Brannan hurriedly set up a store to sell gold prospecting supplies, walked through the streets of San Francisco, holding aloft a vial of gold, shouting "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!"On August 19, 1848, the New York Herald was the first major newspaper on the East Coast to report the discovery of gold. On December 5, 1848, US President James Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in an address to Congress; as a result, individuals seeking to benefit from the gold rush--later called the "forty-niners"--began moving to the Gold Country of California or "Mother Lode" from other countries and from other parts of the United States. As Sutter had feared, his business plans were ruined after his workers left in search of gold, squatters took over his land and stole his crops and cattle.
San Francisco had been a tiny settlement. When residents learned about the discovery, it at first became a ghost town of abandoned ships and businesses, but boomed as merchants and new people arrived; the population of San Francisco increased from about 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 full-time residents by 1850. Miners lived in wood shanties, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships. In what has been referred to as the "first world-class gold rush," there was no easy way to get to California. At first, most Argonauts, as they were known, traveled by sea. From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take four to five months, cover 18,000 nautical miles. An alternative was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, on the Pacific side, wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco. There was a route across Mexico starting at Veracruz; the companies providing such transportation created vast wealth among their owners and included the U.
S. Mail Steamship Company, the federally subsidized Pacific Mail Steamship Company, the Accessory Tra
State Scenic Highway System (California)
The State Scenic Highway System is a list of highways state highways, that have been designated by the California Department of Transportation as scenic highways. The California State Legislature makes state highways eligible for designation as a scenic highway. For a highway to be declared scenic, the government with jurisdiction over abutting land must adopt a "scenic corridor protection program" that limits development, outdoor advertising, earthmoving, Caltrans must agree that it meets the criteria; the desire to create such a designation has at times been in conflict with the property rights of abutters, for example on State Route 174. Scenic highways are marked by a California poppy, inside a rectangle or pentagon. State Route 1I-5 in San Juan Capistrano to SR 19 in Long Beach SR 187 near Santa Monica to US 101 near El Rio US 101 at Las Cruces to SR 246 in Lompoc Designated 1971-12-14 in Santa Barbara County: US 101 at Las Cruces to Lompoc SR 227 near Oceano to US 101 in Pismo Beach US 101 in San Luis Obispo to SR 35 in Daly City Designated 1999-08-13 in San Luis Obispo County: San Luis Obispo to Monterey County Designated 1965-06-07 in Monterey County: San Luis Obispo County to Carmel River Designated 1970-05-21 in Monterey County: Carmel River to SR 68 in Monterey Designated 1976-06-25 in San Mateo County: Santa Cruz County to Half Moon Bay SR 35 to US 101 in San Francisco US 101 near Marin City to US 101 at LeggettState Route 2I-210 in La Cañada Flintridge to SR 138 near Wrightwood Designated 1971-05-12 in Los Angeles County: La Cañada Flintridge to San Bernardino CountyState Route 3SR 36 near Peanut to MontagueState Route 4SR 160 in Antioch to SR 84 near Brentwood SR 49 in Angels Camp to SR 89 near Markleeville Designated 1971-11-09 in Calaveras County: Arnold to Alpine County Designated 1970-09-14 in Alpine County: Calaveras County to SR 89 near MarkleevilleInterstate 5Mexico to SR 75 in southern San Diego SR 75 near Downtown San Diego to SR 74 in San Juan Capistrano I-210 in Sylmar to SR 126 in Santa Clarita SR 152 near Los Banos to I-580 near Tracy Designated 1968-10-25 in Merced County: SR 152 near Los Banos to Stanislaus County Designated 1968-10-25 in Stanislaus County: Merced County to San Joaquin County Designated 1974-06-07 in San Joaquin County: Stanislaus County to I-580 near Tracy SR 44 in Redding to Shasta Lake SR 89 near Mount Shasta to US 97 in Weed SR 3 in Yreka to OregonInterstate 8Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in San Diego to SR 98 near OcotilloState Route 9SR 1 in Santa Cruz to SR 17 in Los Gatos Designated 1979-10-18 in Santa Clara County: SR 35 at Saratoga Gap to Saratoga Sunnyvale Road in Saratoga Designated 1968-05-02 in Santa Clara County: Saratoga Sunnyvale Road in Saratoga to Los GatosInterstate 10SR 38 in Redlands to SR 62 near White WaterState Route 12US 101 in Santa Rosa to SR 121 near Sonoma Designated 1974-12-17 in Sonoma County: Santa Rosa to Agua Caliente State Route 14SR 58 near Mojave to US 395 near Little LakeInterstate 15SR 76 near Pala to SR 91 in Corona SR 58 in Barstow to SR 127 at BakerState Route 16SR 20 near Rumsey to CapayState Route 17SR 1 in Santa Cruz to SR 9 in Los GatosState Route 18SR 138 at Crestline to SR 247 at Lucerne ValleyState Route 20SR 1 in Fort Bragg to SR 16 near Rumsey SR 49 in Grass Valley to I-80 near Emigrant Gap Designated 1971-03-12 in Nevada County: Relief to Bear ValleyState Route 24Caldecott Tunnel near Oakland to I-680 in Walnut Creek Designated 1982-10-22 in Contra Costa County: Caldecott Tunnel near Oakland to I-680 in Walnut CreekState Route 25SR 198 near Priest Valley to SR 156 near HollisterState Route 27SR 1 at Topanga Beach to Mulholland Drive in Los AngelesState Route 28SR 89 in Tahoe City to NevadaState Route 29SR 37 in Vallejo to SR 221 near Napa Trancas Street in Napa to SR 20 near Upper LakeState Route 33US 101 in Ventura to SR 166 near Cuyama Designated 1972-02-18 in Ventura County: Wheeler Springs to near Sespe Gorge Designated 1988-07-11 in Ventura County: near Sespe Gorge to near Pine Mountain Ridge Road Designated 1972-02-18 in Ventura County: near Pine Mountain Ridge Road to near Lockwood Valley Road Designated 1988-07-11 in Ventura County: near Lockwood Valley Road to Santa Barbara CountyState Route 35SR 17 near Redwood Estates to SR 1 in San Francisco Designated 1968-09-13 in San Mateo County: Santa Cruz County to near Page Mill Road Designated 1968-01-22 in San Mateo County: near Page Mill Road to SR 92 near Crystal Springs ReservoirState Route 36US 101 near Fortuna to SR 3 near PeanutState Route 37SR 251 near Nicasio to SR 29 in VallejoState Route 38I-10 in Redlands to SR 18 at Big Bear Dam Designated 1968-03-19 in San Bernardino County: Santa Ana River to State Lane near SugarloafState Route 39I-210 in Azusa to SR 2 at Islip SaddleInterstate 40Barstow to NeedlesState Route 41SR 1 in Morro Bay to US 101 in Atascadero SR 46 near Cholame to SR 33 at Reef Station SR 49 at Oakhurst to Yosemite National ParkState Route 44I-5 in Redding to SR 89 near Old StationState Route 46SR 1 near Cambria to SR 41 near CholameState Route 49SR 41 at Oakhurst to SR 89 at Sattley Designated 1971-07-14 in Sierra County: Yuba County to Yuba PassU.
S. Route 50SR 49 in Placerville to Nevada Designated 1985-04-02 in El Dorado County: Placerville Drive in Placerville to Echo Summit Designated 1986-04-01 in El Dorado County: Echo Summit to South Lake TahoeState Route 52I-5 in San Diego to SR 67 in SanteeState Route 53SR 29 at Lower Lake to SR 20 near ClearlakeState Route 57SR 90 in Brea to SR 60 near IndustryState Route 58SR 14 near Mojave to I-15 in BarstowState Route 62I-10 near White Water to Arizona Designated 1972-09-14 in Riverside County: I-10 near White Water to San Bernardino CountyState Route 68Monterey to US 101 in Salinas Designated 1968-06-19 in Monterey County: SR 1 in Monterey to Salinas Rive
American River
The American River is a 120-mile-long river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in the Sacramento Valley. Via the Sacramento River, it is part of the San Francisco Bay watershed; this river is fed by the melting snowpack of the Sierra Nevada and its many headwaters and tributaries, including the North Fork American River, the Middle Fork American River, the South Fork American River. The American river is known for the discovery of gold at Coloma in 1848 that started the California Gold Rush and contributed to the initial large-scale settlement of California by European immigrants. Today, the river still has high quality water, it is the main source of drinking water for Sacramento; this river is dammed extensively for irrigation, flood control, hydroelectric power. The American River watershed supports Mediterranean and montane ecosystems, it is the home of a diverse array of fish and wildlife; the Maidu, Miwok and Wintun peoples inhabited the American River in Sacramento for at least 5,000 years before Spaniards and Americans settled the region, although human habitation in Northern California is believed to date back as much as 12,000 years.
They utilized the vast amount of resources of the American River for shelter, clothes and other goods before Europeans arrived in the late 18th century. The Nisenan called the river Kum Mayo, meaning "roundhouse river". Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga named the river "Rio de las Llagas" when he passed through the area in the early 1800s due to hostile relations with local native peoples. Another member of the expedition recorded the name as "Rio de los Lagos" which may or may not have been an error, as in those times the area of the Central Valley surrounding the American River was home to vast marshes, which would have given the river the appearance of a series of lakes. During the 1820s, Jedediah Smith led an expedition to the American River with the goal of finding a safe route across the Sierra Nevada. After a failed attempt to cross the mountains via the South Fork of the American River, Smith's group managed to cross via Ebbetts Pass on the headwaters of the Stanislaus River, becoming the first non-Native Americans to do so.
In Smith's honor the Spanish settlers and Native Americans named the river "Rio de los Americanos", American River. During this time, Alta California was part of New Spain. In the 1830s fur trappers of the Hudson's Bay Company visited the area to trap otter. During one of these expeditions, smallpox or malaria were accidentally introduced to the local Native Americans, who had no natural immunity to Old World diseases; some accounts suggest. The surviving natives became hostile to European settlers and traders for quite some time, prevented the HBC from establishing a permanent outpost here. In 1839, Swiss immigrant John Sutter established the New Helvetia settlement on the American River, near the present-day location of central Sacramento. In 1848, following the Mexican–American War, California was ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Just weeks James W. Marshall, an employee of Sutter, discovered gold on the South Fork, starting the California Gold Rush. Although miners looking for gold worked all three forks of the American River, the South Fork held the richest deposits.
However, as the accessible placer gold was played out, large companies used hydraulic mining to access gold buried deeper in the soil. This large and extensive mining practice washed away entire mountainsides and polluted all the waterways, including the American River. During the Great Flood of 1862 the American River flooded massively, putting much of Sacramento under water for three months. Newly elected Governor Leland Stanford had to travel to his inauguration by rowboat. A significant contributor to the flood damage was the debris washed down by hydraulic mining, which had choked the river channel and reduced its capacity to drain floodwaters. In response, the city of Sacramento undertook a massive project to raise its streets and buildings as much as 9.5 feet. Many of original sidewalks and the first floors of buildings remain as subterranean spaces underneath today's streets; the lower American River has been one of seven California rivers to achieve the designation "Recreational River" under both the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
This status provides state and national recognition to protect the river's outstanding scenic and wildlife, historic and recreational values. The American River is fed by its North and South forks, which are located in El Dorado County, Placer County, Sacramento County; the river's three forks originate in the Eldorado National Forests. The North and Middle Forks join near Auburn, continue downstream as the North Fork, although the Middle Fork carries a higher volume of water; the North and South Forks join in Folsom Lake. All three forks are known for their verdant canyons, forested ridges, massive rock formations, backcountry winter adventuring among snowy peaks and white water rafting. There are various fish species that live within the American River such as Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Trout; the American River headwaters lie along about 50 miles along the Sierra Crest from Mount Lincoln in the north where it adjoins the watersheds of the South Yu
Vinton, California
Vinton is an unincorporated community in Plumas County, California. It lies at an elevation of 4,947 feet. Vinton is located 2 miles west of Chilcoot. For census purposes, Vinton is included in the census-designated place of Chilcoot-Vinton; the Vinton post office opened in 1897. The name honors Vinton Bowen, daughter of a Sierra Valley Railway official
Nevada County, California
Nevada County is a county in the Sierra Nevada of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 98,764; the county seat is Nevada City. Nevada County comprises the Truckee-Grass Valley, CA Micropolitan Statistical Area, included in the Sacramento-Roseville, CA Combined Statistical Area, it is in the Mother Lode Country. Created in 1851, from portions of Yuba County, Nevada County was named after the mining town of Nevada City, a name derived from the Sierra Nevada Mountains; the word nevada is Spanish for "snowy" or "snow-covered."Nevada City was the first to use the word "Nevada" in its name. In 1851 the newly formed Nevada County used the same name as the county seat; the bordering state of Nevada used the same name in 1861. The region came to life in the Gold Rush of 1849. Many historical sites remain to mark the birth of this important region in California's formative years. Among them are the Nevada Theatre in Nevada City, the oldest theater built in California in 1865, it once hosted Mark Twain among other historical figures.
The Old 5 Mile House stagecoach stop built in 1890 operates to this day as a provider of hospitality spanning three centuries. This historical site still features "The stagecoach safe", on display outside the present day restaurant and is the source of many legends of stagecoach robbers and notorious highwaymen in the California gold rush era; the gold industry in Nevada County thrived into the post-WWII days. The county had historic technological moments; the first long-distance telephone in the world, built in 1877 by the Ridge Telephone Company, connected French Corral with French Lake, 58 miles away. It was operated by the Milton Mining Company from a building on this site, erected about 1853; the Pelton wheel, designed to power gold mines, still drives hydro-electric generators today. Nevada City and Grass Valley were among the first California towns with electric lights; the Olympics, NASA, every television station around the country utilizes video/broadcasting equipment designed and manufactured by Grass Valley Group, founded in Grass Valley.
The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad was built in 1876 and was the only railroad in the West, never robbed though its primary freight was gold. The rail line was torn up for scrap. In Grass Valley the historic Holbrooke Hotel opened in 1851 and housed Mark Twain, Bret Harte, four U. S. presidents. The Community of Rough and Ready seceded from the Union for a time and became the Great Republic of Rough and Ready; the 2001 Nevada County shootings occurred on January 10, 2001, in which Scott Harlan Thorpe murdered three people in a shooting spree. Two of the victims were murdered in Nevada City and a third victim was killed in Grass Valley. Thorpe was declared not guilty by reason of insanity, he resides in Napa State Hospital. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 974 square miles, of which 958 square miles is land and 16 square miles is water; the county is drained by South Yuba rivers. The western part of the county is defined by the course of several rivers and the irregular boundaries of adjoining counties.
When the county was created, the founders wanted to include access to the transcontinental railroad, so a rectangular section was added that includes the railroad town of Truckee. What is remarkable about this is that the final shape of the county resembles the Deringer pocket pistol, a favorite at the time of the more urbane residents of this gold rush county. Nevada County is one of four counties in the United States to border a state with which it shares the same name; the county has substantial areas of forest, savanna, riparian area and other ecosystems. Forests include both coniferous- and oak-dominated woodland types. There are numerous understory forbs and wildflowers including the yellow mariposa lily. Sierra County - north Washoe County, Nevada - east Placer County - south Yuba County - west Tahoe National Forest Toiyabe National Forest The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada County had a population of 98,764; the racial makeup of Nevada County was 90,233 White, 389 African American, 1,044 Native American, 1,187 Asian, 110 Pacific Islander, 2,678 from other races, 3,123 from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8,439 persons. As of the census of 2000, there were 92,033 people, 36,894 households, 25,936 families residing in the county; the population density was 96 people per square mile. There were 44,282 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile; the racial makeup of the county was 93.4% White, 0.3% Black or African American, 0.9% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.9% from other races, 2.6% from two or more races. 5.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 16.4% were of German, 16.3% English, 11.1% Irish, 6.8% Italian and 6.6% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 94.0% spoke English and 4.2% Spanish as their first language. There were 36,894 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.7% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8
Yuba-Donner Scenic Byway
SR 41 at Oakhurst
SR 70 at Vinton
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
SR 140 west – Merced
CR J16 (Bear Valley Road) – Hornitos, Snelling
SR 132 west – La Grange, Modesto
CR J132 east (Main Street) – Greeley Hill, Yosemite
SR 120 east – Yosemite
SR 108 west – Modesto
CR E5 (Rawhide Road) / Humbug Street
CR E18 (Parrots Ferry Road) – Columbia
SR 4 Bus. east (Vallecito Road) – Murphys, Arnold, Bear Valley, Markleeville
SR 49 hist. (Main Street)
SR 12 west – Valley Springs, Stockton
SR 26 – Valley Springs, West Point
SR 88 east – Pine Grove, Lake Tahoe
SR 104 (Ridge Road)
SR 16 west – Sacramento
CR E16 (Shenandoah Road) / Main Street – Fiddletown, River Pines
To US 50 (Missouri Flat Road)
SR 193 – Georgetown
I-80 (SR 193 west) – Reno, Sacramento
SR 20 west / Empire Street – Marysville
SR 174 – Colfax, Grass Valley
CR E20 (Marysville Road) – Dobbins, Bullards Bar Reservoir
SR 89 north – Calpine, Graeagle, Blairsden, Quincy
CR A23 (Westside Road) – Beckwourth, Portola
CR A24 (3rd Street)
