Sutter Creek | |
|---|---|
 A view of Main Street (OldHighway 49) in Sutter Creek. | |
| Nickname: Jewel of the gold country | |
 Location in Amador County | |
  Sutter Creek Location in California Show map of California Sutter Creek Sutter Creek (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:38°23′35″N120°48′09″W / 38.39306°N 120.80250°W /38.39306; -120.80250 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  California |
| County | Amador |
| Settled | 1848 |
| Incorporated | February 11, 1913[1] |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Claire Gunselman[2] |
| • State Senate | Marie Alvarado-Gil (R)[3] |
| • State Assembly | Heather Hadwick (R)[4] |
| • U. S. Congress | Tom McClintock (R)[5] |
| Area | |
• Total | 2.70 sq mi (6.99 km2) |
| • Land | 2.70 sq mi (6.99 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0.00 km2) 0% |
| Elevation | 1,188 ft (362 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 2,646 |
| • Density | 980/sq mi (379/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code | 95685 |
| Area code | 209 |
| FIPS code | 06-77392 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 277620,2412019 |
| Website | www |
| Reference no. | 322[9] |
Sutter Creek (formerly spelledSutter's Creek andSuttercreek;[10] formerly namedSuttersville[11]) is a city inAmador County, California, United States. The population was 2,646 at the 2020 census, up from 2,501 at the 2010 census. It is accessible viaState Route 49.
The community takes its name from nearbySutter Creek, which in turn has the name of early California developerJohn Sutter.[12]
Sutter's discovery ofgold at nearbyColoma in January 1848 triggered theCalifornia Gold Rush. After all his workers left him to go on their own hunts for gold, Sutter moved toMormon Island with a couple of hands. After about two weeks miners flooded the island, so Sutter and his hands left and returned to Sutter Creek. Sutter said: "I broke up the camp and started on the march further south, and located my next camp on Sutter Creek, now in Amador County, and thought that I should be there alone. The work was going on well for a while, until three or four traveling grog-shops surrounded me, at from one-half to ten miles (16 km) distance from the camp. Then, of course, the gold was taken to these places, for drinking, gambling, etc., and then the following day they were sick and unable to work, and became deeper and more indebted to me, particularly theKanakas [native Hawaiians]." Shortly thereafter Sutter moved out of Sutter Creek and back to his fort.[13]
Sutter Creek became a destination for fortune hunters. A post office was established in 1852, and Sutter Creek became a town in 1854[11] that incorporated in 1913.[11]
Although plenty ofplacer gold was found there, gold-bearingquartz deposits were discovered in 1851, and mining those deposits for gold became the mainstay of the local economy for many years. With the prosperity brought by quartz mining, Sutter Creek became aboomtown. By 1932, the Central Eureka mine, begun in 1869, had reached the 2,300-foot (700 m) level. By 1939, it was the best-paying mine in Sutter Creek. The mines continued operations until 1942, when most gold mines were closed for manpower reasons duringWorld War II.
Today, Sutter Creek is a tourist town with many shops and restaurants. The town itself is registered asCalifornia Historical Landmark #322.[9]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.7 square miles (7.0 km2), all of it land.[6]
According to theKöppen Climate Classification system, Sutter Creek has ahot-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.[14] Summers are long and hot, while winters are cool but relatively short. As typical of mediterranean climates, precipitation is concentrated to winter months, with summers being extremely dry.
| Climate data for Sutter Hill Ranger Station | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 68 (20) | 73 (23) | 81 (27) | 92 (33) | 100 (38) | 106 (41) | 110 (43) | 107 (42) | 104 (40) | 99 (37) | 89 (32) | 70 (21) | 110 (43) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 53.8 (12.1) | 56.8 (13.8) | 61.9 (16.6) | 65.7 (18.7) | 76.5 (24.7) | 86.2 (30.1) | 92.9 (33.8) | 91.6 (33.1) | 86.5 (30.3) | 74.7 (23.7) | 62.0 (16.7) | 54.2 (12.3) | 71.9 (22.2) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 45.9 (7.7) | 48.4 (9.1) | 51.8 (11.0) | 54.6 (12.6) | 63.6 (17.6) | 71.5 (21.9) | 78.0 (25.6) | 76.7 (24.8) | 72.6 (22.6) | 63.0 (17.2) | 53.2 (11.8) | 46.5 (8.1) | 60.5 (15.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 38.0 (3.3) | 40.0 (4.4) | 41.7 (5.4) | 43.7 (6.5) | 50.8 (10.4) | 57.0 (13.9) | 62.8 (17.1) | 61.6 (16.4) | 58.8 (14.9) | 51.3 (10.7) | 44.4 (6.9) | 38.8 (3.8) | 49.1 (9.5) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 23 (−5) | 26 (−3) | 28 (−2) | 29 (−2) | 31 (−1) | 41 (5) | 42 (6) | 47 (8) | 44 (7) | 32 (0) | 28 (−2) | 20 (−7) | 20 (−7) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 5.19 (132) | 4.41 (112) | 3.84 (98) | 2.76 (70) | 1.07 (27) | 0.32 (8.1) | 0.01 (0.25) | 0.12 (3.0) | 0.29 (7.4) | 1.72 (44) | 3.62 (92) | 5.22 (133) | 28.55 (725) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.4 (1.0) | 0.2 (0.51) | 0.1 (0.25) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0.1 (0.25) | 0.9 (2.3) |
| Average precipitation days | 10 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 63 |
| Source: Western Regional Climate Center[15] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 1,324 | — | |
| 1890 | 1,351 | 2.0% | |
| 1920 | 920 | — | |
| 1930 | 1,013 | 10.1% | |
| 1940 | 1,134 | 11.9% | |
| 1950 | 1,151 | 1.5% | |
| 1960 | 1,161 | 0.9% | |
| 1970 | 1,508 | 29.9% | |
| 1980 | 1,705 | 13.1% | |
| 1990 | 1,835 | 7.6% | |
| 2000 | 2,303 | 25.5% | |
| 2010 | 2,501 | 8.6% | |
| 2020 | 2,646 | 5.8% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[16] | |||
The2020 United States census reported that Sutter Creek had a population of 2,646. The population density was 980.7 inhabitants per square mile (378.7/km2). The racial makeup of Sutter Creek was 81.9%White, 0.6%African American, 2.2%Native American, 2.0%Asian, 0.0%Pacific Islander, 2.9% fromother races, and 10.3% from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.8% of the population.
There were 1,265 households, out of which 26.0% included children under the age of 18, 40.2% were married-couple households, 6.2% werecohabiting couple households, 34.4% had a female householder with no partner present, and 19.2% had a male householder with no partner present. 37.3% of households were one person, and 21.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.09. There were 720families (56.9% of all households).
The age distribution was 18.7% under the age of 18, 6.7% aged 18 to 24, 20.0% aged 25 to 44, 25.6% aged 45 to 64, and 29.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.4 males.
There were 1,428 housing units at an average density of 529.3 units per square mile (204.4 units/km2), of which 1,265 (88.6%) were occupied. Of these, 55.5% were owner-occupied, and 44.5% were occupied by renters.[17][18]
In thestate legislature Sutter Creek is inthe 4th senatorial district, represented byRepublican Marie Alvarado-Gil,[3] andthe 1st Assembly district, represented byRepublican Heather Hadwick.[4] Federally, Sutter Creek is inCalifornia's 5th congressional district, represented byRepublican Tom McClintock.[5] The city, as well asAmador County as a whole, consistently votes Republican.
Sutter Creek has two buildings on theNational Register of Historic Places
Sutter Creek is home toAmador High School. It has fewer than 1000 students and competes athletically in the Mother Lode League of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Municipalities and communities ofAmador County, California,United States | ||
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