TheMaidu people were settled in the region when they were first encountered by Spanish and Mexican scouting expeditions in the early 18th century. One version of the origin of the name "Yuba" is that during one of these expeditions, wild grapes were seen growing by a river, and so it was named "Uba", a variant spelling of the Spanish worduva (grape). On the map of the area made byJean Jacques Vioget in 1841, a Maidu rancheria called Buba, noted inStephen Powers' 1877 bookThe Tribes of California as the village of Yú-ba, was located at the present site of Yuba City.[11]
The Mexican government granted a large expanse of land, which included the area in which Yuba City is situated, toJohn Sutter—the same John Sutter upon whose land gold was subsequently discovered in 1848. He sold part of this tract to some enterprising men who wished to establish a town near the confluence of theYuba River and theFeather River, tributaries of theSacramento River, with an eye to developing a commercial center catering to the thousands of gold miners headed upstream to the gold fields. At the same time, another town was developing on the eastern bank of the Feather River, the beginnings of what later would becomeMarysville.
By 1852, Yuba City was a steamboat landing, had one hotel, a grocery store, a post office, and approximately 20 dwelling homes with a population of about 150.
Yuba City was chosen ascounty seat forSutter County in 1854. The same year, however, voters decided thatNicolaus would be a better location, and the county seat was moved there. County voters returned to their first choice of Yuba City two years later, in 1856, and it has remained the county seat since.[12]
Yuba City saw its first major influx of population after World War II, pushing residential areas west and south from the city's original center. Orchards were turned into residential areas as new homes were built for people migrating to the city.[13]
In December 1955, a series of storms dropped torrential rain throughout northern California. The deluge caused all the rivers in the region to overflow their banks and to break through levees. The Christmas Eve levee break at Yuba City was particularly disastrous, with 38 people losing their lives,[12] and heavy damage occurring in the downtown section. According to Dick Brandt, manager of the Yuba County airport in 1955, between 550 and 600 Sutter County residents were rescued from the floodwater by helicopter.[14]
On March 14, 1961, aBoeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying nuclear weapons, flying near Yuba City, encountered a pressurization problem, and had to drop to a lower altitude. Because of this, more fuel than expected was used, and the aircraft ran out of fuel.It crashed before meeting with a tanker aircraft. The pilot gave the bailout command, and the crew egressed at 10,000 ft, except for the pilot, who ejected at 4,000 ft, while avoiding a populated area. The aircraft was destroyed. The weapons, two Mark 39 (3.8 megatons each) thermonuclear bombs (identified from declassified Department of Energy films and photographs) were destroyed on impact though no explosion took place, and there was no release of radioactive material as a result.[15][self-published source?]
On May 21, 1976, a school bus carrying members of the Yuba City High School's choir to a performance atMiramonte High School inOrinda, California plunged 28 feet off the exit ramp onI-680 at Marina Vista Road inMartinez, California. Twenty-seven students and one adult chaperone died and twenty-three students were seriously injured.[16]
On February 24, 1978, five young men from Yuba City, Gary Dale Mathias, Jack Madruga, Jackie Huett, Theodore (Ted) Weiher and William Sterling, aged between 24 and 32 years, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. They went to a basketball game inChico and on their way back drove up to a mountain road away from the main road back to Yuba, where their car had been found later, undamaged and with enough gas to drive back to Yuba City.
Four of the men were later found in and near a trailer on June 4 of the same year. Ted Weiher was found inside the trailer, starved, covered in blankets. Inside the trailer there was enough food to supply all five men for about a year, and enough paper and wood to light a fire, but nothing was used this way. The corpses and bones of three of the other men were found outside the trailer, but Gary Mathias was never found.[17][18]
On April 12, 2020, a retired 64 year old veteran named Gregory Gross was assaulted by Yuba City police officers Joshua Jackson, Scott Hansen and Nathan Livingston after they had charged Gross for driving while intoxicated.[19] Gross was handcuffed and compliant at the time of the incident. After twisting his arm and stating that he was now using "pain compliance techniques," Jackson proceeded to throw Gross face first into the ground, severing his vertebrae and leaving him permanently paralyzed.[20][21] Jackson was afterwards allowed to retire, while Hansen and Livingston remained officers with the Yuba City Police Department.[20] No charges have been brought against any of the officers, despite body camera video emerging which captured the prolonged abuse of the handcuffed senior citizen.[20][22][19]
In 2022, after several surgeries and years of physical therapy, Gross sued the police department, ultimately winning a $20 million settlement, which was one of the largest such settlements in U.S. history.[22][20]
Yuba City is located at 39°8'5" North, 121°37'34" West (39.134792, −121.626201).[23]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.1 square miles (39.1 km2), of which 15.0 square miles (38.8 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) is water. The total area is 0.52% water.
The Yuba City area is located 40 miles (64 km) north of Sacramento and situated in theSacramento Valley. It is home to theSutter Buttes, the smallest mountain range in the world.[24] TheFeather River borders the city to the east and the area is sometimes referred to as the "Feather River Valley", which divides the city from its neighborMarysville.
Yuba City has a hot-summermediterranean climate (Csa according to theKöppen climate classification system) which consists of cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. On average, January is the coolest and wettest month, and July is the hottest and driest. During the wet season from mid-October to mid-April, Yuba City sees frequent rain and is usually under thetule fog. Snow is rare in the valley, but cold waves from the north may bring some light snow and ice. Spring is wet in the beginning but becomes drier and warmer as summer months approach. May has some rain, but usually from thunderstorms rather than from winter storms. Rain is rare from June to September. The Delta Breeze, which comes from the Bay Area on summer nights, helps cool temperatures and adds humidity. At times the Delta Breeze is strong enough to bring coastal fog inland to theSacramento Valley. Autumn starts out warm but becomes cooler, wetter, and foggier as the season progresses.
Climate data for Marysville, California (Yuba County Airport), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 2000–present
The census reported that 99.0% of the population lived in households, 0.3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.7% were institutionalized.[29]
There were 23,179 households, out of which 39.4% included children under the age of 18, 50.7% were married-couple households, 6.9% werecohabiting couple households, 25.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 16.8% had a male householder with no partner present. 21.0% of households were one person, and 10.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.99.[29] There were 16,896families (72.9% of all households).[30]
The age distribution was 25.4% under the age of 18, 9.2% aged 18 to 24, 26.4% aged 25 to 44, 23.5% aged 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 36.1years. For every 100 females, there were 98.2 males.[29]
There were 24,027 housing units at an average density of 1,603.9 units per square mile (619.3 units/km2), of which 23,179 (96.5%) were occupied. Of these, 57.0% were owner-occupied, and 43.0% were occupied by renters.[29]
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 24.1% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 61.5% spoke only English at home, 20.0% spokeSpanish, 15.7% spoke otherIndo-European languages, 2.6% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.2% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 77.3% were high school graduates and 20.1% had a bachelor's degree.[31]
The median household income was $72,322, and theper capita income was $33,563. About 13.2% of families and 15.6% of the population were below the poverty line.[32]
The city is served by two highways.California State Route 20 is the major east–west route, running toMarysville to the east, andWilliams to the west.California State Route 99 is the major north–south route, running south towardSacramento, and north toChico. State Route 99 is also the city's onlyfreeway, running from State Route 20 to just north of Eager Road (exit 344) outside of the city.
Yuba City is home to the largestdried fruit processing plant in the world,[34]Sunsweet Growers Incorporated. In 1988 Yuba City was home to the California Prune Festival. In 2001 the name was changed to theCalifornia Dried Plum Festival and in early 2003 directors announced the end of the festival's 15-year run in the Yuba–Sutter area. This was primarily due to rise in costs, difficulty in securing sponsors, and competition from other festivals.
Being a small town, retail and healthcare make up the largest sectors of the economy. Some other notable employers include the Geweke Auto Group, Hilbers Incorporated, SharpeSoft, Jaeger Construction, Ardent Mills (formerly Andean Naturals) and Nordic Industries, Inc.Farming is also an important part of the Yuba–Sutter area.[citation needed] The unemployment rate in Yuba city is 8.20%.[35]
Yuba City is known for its sizeableSikh community.[37][38] The Sikh population in theYuba–Sutter area has grown to be one of the largest in the United States and one of the largest Sikh populations outside of thePunjab state of India. Each year on the first Sunday of November, Sikhs from the United States, Canada, India, the United Kingdom and throughout the world attend the Sikh parade in Yuba City, which commemorates the receipt by Sikhs of their Holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, in 1708. The 4.5-mile-long (7.2 km) parade features floats and a procession of parade participants. The 2005 parade drew an estimated 56,000 people while the 2007 parade was estimated to draw between 75,000 and 85,000 people of both Sikh and non-Sikh background. In 2008, an estimated 80,000 people came out for the event which is now considered one of the largest gatherings inNorthern California.[39] In 2012, the parade participants rose to an estimated number of 150,000 people.
Yuba City participated in the CaliforniaSwan Festival, which had been held from 2013 to 2016, November 13–15, with the events centered in adjacentMarysville’s Caltrans Building.[40][41][42][43][44][45]
The main newspaper for Yuba City area is theAppeal-Democrat. The newspaper is printed in Marysville, but serves the entire Yuba–Sutter area.The Sacramento Bee is also widely sold and read in Yuba City.
^Kulczyk, David. (2009). Death In California – The Bizarre, Freakish, and Just Curious Ways People Die in the Golden State. Craven Street Books. P121ISBN978-1-884995-57-6
^Gorney, Cynthia (July 6, 1978)."5 'Boys' Who Never Come Back".Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. RetrievedApril 29, 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
^"California Swan Festival".Bird Watching. Events & exhibits.The California Swan Festival is held inMarysville, CA, with tours and ancillary events held throughout the Yuba-Sutter region.
^"Swan Tours". North Central Region. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. RetrievedDecember 15, 2018.... more than 100,000 tundra swans migrate along thePacific flyway ... to spend winter in California. ... The tour explores ... a 23,000 acre expanse of privately-owned rice fields and restored habitat. This area boasts one of the largest seasonal concentrations oftundra swans in the Central Valley, as well as a wide variety of other species, including ducks, geese, shorebirds, herons, egrets, and raptors.
^"California Swan Festival". (official website). Yuba-Sutter Chamber of Commerce. 2014. Archived fromthe original on December 16, 2018. RetrievedDecember 15, 2018.We're sorry to announce that the 2017 CA Swan Festival has been canceled.
