Ferndale, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ferndale is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. The population was 1,382 at the 2000 census.

Ferndale is known for well-preserved Victorian buildings. In fact, the complete town is California Historical Landmark No. 883 [1], in part due to the Victorian structures, along with its dairy industry.

Ferndale is also the endpoint of the annual Kinetic sculpture race as well as being the town where the first race began when [2] Hobart Brown was challenged to race his odd-looking five-wheeled tricycle down Main Street on Mother's Day, 1969 by local sculptor Jack Mays.

Ferndale is a popular film location and is featured in movies like The Majestic with Jim Carrey, and Outbreak starring Dustin Hoffman.

The Humboldt County Fair is held every August at the county fairgrounds on the edge of Ferndale, and feature the only horse-racing events in the county along with the standard fare of agricultural, pastoral and artistic contests, carnival games and commercial or non-profit booths.

1 Geography
2 Demographics

[edit] Geography

Ferndale is located at 40°34′45″N, 124°15′48″W (40.579066, -124.263219)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.7 km² (1.0 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,382 people, 611 households, and 392 families residing in the city. The population density was 518.1/km² (1,343.2/mi²). There were 663 housing units at an average density of 248.5/km² (644.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.34% White, 0.29% Black or African American, 0.51% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.30% from other races, and 3.91% from two or more races. 4.27% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 611 households out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,955, and the median income for a family was $49,706. Males had a median income of $32,404 versus $29,808 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,727. About 4.5% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.9% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Politics

Ferndale was incorporated in 1893 and is governed by a four-member City Council and a Mayor, all of whom serve four-year terms chosen in the general election of even-numbered years. The current Mayor is James Moore, appointed in April, 2006 following the resignation of Elizabeth Anderson. Councilmembers include Carlos Benemann, Ken Mierzwa and Stuart Titus, with one position left vacant by the appointment of Moore.

In 2004 the City Council placed Measure O on the municipal ballot to eliminate the elective office of Mayor, which would have then reverted to an appointive office to be chosen by the City Council from amongst its own members. The measure was resoundingly defeated, with 78.8% voting against. Interestingly, when the Mayor's seat came back up for grabs in 2006, no candidates filed, leaving the office to Moore by default.

[edit] Media

Ferndale is home to the longest living newspaper under a single name in Humboldt County, the [Ferndale Enterprise]. Commercial radio station KHUM also calls Ferndale home, and operates in a joint studio with KSLG and KWPT under the ownership of Lost Coast Communications, Inc.