Sierra County was formed from parts ofYuba County in 1852. The county derives its name from theSierra Nevada.
Prior to theCalifornia Gold Rush, the area was home to both theMaidu and theWashoe peoples. They generally summered in the higher elevations to hunt and fish, and returned to lower elevations for the winter months.[6] After the discovery of gold in the Sierra foothills sparked the California Gold Rush, more than 16,000 miners settled in Sierra County between 1848 and 1860. Most mining settlements in the county sprung up along the North and Middle Forks of theYuba River, both of which had rich deposits of gold. While some of the mining boom towns faded away once gold fever died down, other settlements such asDownieville andSierra City have remained.[7][8]
Notable gold nuggets found in the county include a 26.5 pound specimen,avoirdupois, found by a group of sailors at Sailor Ravine, two miles aboveDownieville. A 51-pound specimen was found in 1853 by a group of Frenchmen in French Ravine. The 106 pound Monumental Nugget was found in Sept. 1869 atSierra City.[9]
The Bald Mountaindrift mine inForest City was founded in Aug. 1864, and was the largest of its kind in the state at the time. The Bald Mountain Extension was located in 1874 east of Forest. The Monte Cristo Mine was located in 1854. The largest quartz-mine is the Sierra Buttes Gold Mine was located in 1850 near Sierra City. The Gold Bluff Mine was located near Downieville in 1854. By 1880 the county was "crushing" 70,000 tons of quartz and had 266 miles of mining ditches.[9]
Since the enactment of the statute in which theCalifornia State Legislature defined the common boundary betweenNevada and Sierra Counties in 1874, no survey was conducted to determine where the straight line segment of the common boundary between the two counties ran. In particular, the statute, at the time codified as Section 3921 of the California Political Code, at the time stated:
...thence south on said state line (state of Nevada) to the northeast corner of Nevada County, a point east of the source of the South Fork of the Middle Yuba River; thence west to the source of, and down the South Fork of the Middle Yuba River to a point ten miles above the mouth of the latter.
Since the line was not surveyed and the legislature never defined where the "point east of the source of the South Fork of the Middle Yuba River" was, the location of the straight air line between the state line and this point was unknown. As such, both counties claimed that the point east of the source, which itself was also unknown, was located in different places. This created a situation where a strip of land averaging 1.22 miles in width and around 31.29 square miles were under dispute, with Sierra County claiming that Nevada County was encroaching on their jurisdiction when attempting to levyproperty taxes. Thetrial court, that ofPlumas County, sided with Sierra County, declaring that the disputed area had always belonged to Sierra County since the legislature defined the boundary in dispute by referencingPublic Land Survey System lines. It also determined that the source of South Fork of the Middle Yuba River was that of several springs in theSierra Nevada, contrary to the artificial English Lake, which ceased to exist after thefailure of its dam in 1883, which is where the source of said waterway was in the eyes of Nevada County. TheCalifornia Supreme Court affirmed the trial courts decision on December 28, 1908.[10]
Sierra County, California covers 962 square miles according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The county comprises 953 square miles of land and 9 square miles of water. The county is located in theSierra Nevada. The county has a diverse range of landscapes, from mountains to forests, with numerous lakes and streams. The area has opportunities for hiking, fishing, and hunting.[11]
Because Loyalton is Sierra County's most populous community 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.[12] The county is governed by the five-member Sierra County Board of Supervisors, consisting of the following members as of August 2021.[13]
District One (Downieville, Goodyears' Bar, Pike, Alleghany): Lee Adams, Chairman
District Two (Sierra City, Bassetts, Verdi): Peter W. Huebner
District Three (Calpine, Sattley, Sierraville): Paul Roen
District Four (Loyalton): Terry LeBlanc
District Five (Sierra Brooks): Sharon Dryden
Law enforcement is provided by the Sierra County Sheriff's Department, headed by current Sierra County Sheriff-Coroner Michael "Mike" Fisher. Due to the county's sparse population and geographical obstacles, the Sheriff's Department operates a substation in Loyalton in addition to their main headquarters in Downieville.[14]
Sierra County at one time had favored the Democratic party in presidential elections and was one of few counties in California to be won byGeorge McGovern. In more recent times it is a strongly Republican county inpresidential andcongressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county wasJimmy Carter in1976.
United States presidential election results for Sierra County, California[17][note 2]
On November 4, 2008, Sierra County voted 64.2% for Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.[18]
In the2009 special statewide election, Sierra County had the highest voter turnout of any county in California and almost double the average statewide, with 53.6% of registered voters participating, according to theLos Angeles Times.[19]
The only traffic light in the county is a flashing red light at the intersection of highways 49 and 89 inSierraville.[20] As of 2021[update] the sheriff's department has also erected aradar speed sign in Sierraville.[21]
Public transportation in Sierra County is limited to vans run by senior citizen agencies in Downieville and Loyalton, which the general public may ride on a space-available basis.[22]
Sierra County, California – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of thecensus[47] of 2000, there were 3,555 people, 1,520 households and 986 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 4 people per square mile (1.5 people/km2). There were 2,202 housing units at an average density of 2 units per square mile (0.77 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 94.2%White, 0.2%Black orAfrican American, 1.9%Native American, 0.2%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 1.0% fromother races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Six percent of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
Eighteen percent were ofEnglish ancestry, 16% were ofIrish, 11%German and 8%Italian ancestry.[48] Over ninety-five (95.3) percent spokeEnglish 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% weremarried 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. Theper capita income for the county was $18,815. About 9.0% of families and 11.3% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.
Sierra County is served by two long-running local newspapers. The Sierra Valley region, which is partially within Sierra County, is served by theSierra Booster, based in Loyalton. This paper has been published bi-weekly since 1949 when it was established by reporter, miner, and airman Hal Wright and his wife Allene.[49] It is today run by their daughter Janice Wright Buck.
The other paper serving the county is theMountain Messenger, which is based in Downieville. TheMessenger has been in constant publication since 1853 and is currently the longest-running weekly newspaper in the state of California. Its more notable former contributor wasMark Twain, at the time in hiding from Nevadan authorities and writing under his birth name of Samuel Clemens.[50] This paper was the center of considerable media attention in early 2020 when its future was uncertain with the retirement of Don Russell, who had owned and operated it for 30 years; it was saved by local retiree Carl Butz, who purchased the paper and runs it today.[51][52] TheMountain Messenger is printed weekly on Thursdays; it is distributed across Sierra, eastern Plumas and western Nevada counties, and by mail.
^abGilbert, Frank; Wells, Harry (1882).Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties, with California from 1513 to 1850. San Francisco: Fariss & Smith. pp. 478–483.
^"Sheriff-Coroner".Sierra County, CA. Sierra County. RetrievedAugust 16, 2021.
^abcdefghijklmnopqU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B02001.U.S. Census website. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B03003.U.S. Census website. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B19301.U.S. Census website. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B19013.U.S. Census website. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B19113.U.S. Census website. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.U.S. Census website. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
^U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B01003.U.S. Census website. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
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