The town was named in 1907 by theSouthern Pacific Railroad[5] for brothers Presley A. and Carlos J. Dorris who raised stock in Little Shasta in the 1860s before moving to Dorris' Bridge on thePit River, renamedAlturas, California in 1876.[6]
The whole population lived in households. There were 318 households, out of which 109 (34.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 139 (43.7%) were married-couple households, 26 (8.2%) werecohabiting couple households, 90 (28.3%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 63 (19.8%) had a male householder with no partner present. 81 households (25.5%) were one person, and 43 (13.5%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.7.[8] There were 207families (65.1% of all households).[9]
The age distribution was 236 people (27.4%) under the age of 18, 57 people (6.6%) aged 18 to 24, 208 people (24.2%) aged 25 to 44, 206 people (24.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 153 people (17.8%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 36.9years. For every 100 females, there were 100.9 males.[8]
There were 365 housing units at an average density of 519.9 units per square mile (200.7 units/km2), of which 318 (87.1%) were occupied. Of these, 203 (63.8%) were owner-occupied, and 115 (36.2%) were occupied by renters.[8]
At the2010 census, Dorris had a population of 939. The population density was 1,307.5 inhabitants per square mile (504.8/km2). The racial makeup was 764 (81.4%) White, 19 (2.0%) African American, 18 (1.9%) Native American, 5 (0.5%) Asian, 8 (0.9%) Pacific Islander, 77 (8.2%) from other races, and 48 (5.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race numbered 197 people (21.0%).[10]
The entire population lived in households; no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters or was institutionalized.
There were 364 households, 125 (34.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 171 (47.0%) wereopposite-sex married couples living together, 47 (12.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 23 (6.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 33 (9.1%)unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1 (0.3%)same-sex married couples or partnerships. 106 households (29.1%) were one person and 44 (12.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.58. There were 241 families (66.2% of households); the average family size was 3.15.
The age distribution was 240 people (25.6%) under the age of 18, 91 people (9.7%) aged 18 to 24, 216 people (23.0%) aged 25 to 44, 256 people (27.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 136 people (14.5%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 38.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males.
There were 414 housing units at an average density of 576.5 per square mile. 248 (68.1%) of the occupied units were owner-occupied and 116 (31.9%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.2%. 584 people (62.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 355 people (37.8%) lived in rental housing units.
Notable locations in town include the Dorris Branch of the Siskiyou County Public Library, Dorris City Hall, Dorris Fire Department, two schools, the Siskiyou County Dorris-Tulelake Branch Courts and the Butte Valley Museum.[11] Dorris is home to what was once the country's tallest flagpole west of theMississippi, and still the tallest west of theRockies. It is 200 feet (61 m) tall, and flies a flag 30 feet (9.1 m) tall by 60 feet (18 m) wide.[12] It was surpassed in 2002 by a 300-foot pole inLaredo, Texas[13] and in 2014 by a 400-foot pole inSheboygan, Wisconsin.