Guerneville, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Guerneville is a census-designated place in Sonoma County, California. As of the 2000 census, its population was 2,441. Guerneville (pronounced Gurn-ville by locals who can recognize tourists by their use of Gur-nee-ville) is a popular resort town in the scenic Russian River Valley. A hippie enclave in the 60s and a popular gay resort there is a significant gay presence. More and more, Guerneville is becoming a national and international destination for wine-tasters heading for the dozens of wineries in West Sonoma County. Korbel, a famous winery, is located in the town.

Main Street, in Guerneville.

Guerneville is built where the Russian River had an extra loop before an earthquake many thousands of years ago straightened things out. Redwoods grew in the riverbed with such vigor that just a few centuries ago, the valley had the greatest biomass density on the planet (according to local lore, anyway). The local Pomo Indians used it as a summer camp and called it "Ceola" (Cee-Oh-Lay) which meant "shady place". Except for a large, beautiful stand of truly ancient trees preserved in the Fife Creek watershed (which are now the centerpiece of Armstrong Woods Park) they were logged in the 1800s, giving rise to the first English name for the place - "Stump Town". The annual town parade is still called the Stumptown Day Parade. There are extensive redwood forests on the surrounding mountains, but they are not even two centuries old.

For more on the history of the area, see John C. Schubert's "Guerneville Early Days", now out of print. Another book to try would be "Out of the River Mist". Modern Guerneville is an exceptional fusion of small town charm and cosmopolitanism. It has a plaza in the town center with permanent chess tables. There are no fast food restaurants but three gay bars in the small town. Guernville has a number of popular gay resorts and hotels, making this a nationally known gay resort town. Johnson's Beach, an area along the Russian River used for fishing, swimming, boating, and sunbathing, is located in the city's downtown area. It features a kiddie lagoon in the summer and is open to the public in the summers and (when not being used as a festival site) features free admission, free parking, boat and umbrella rentals, and a concession stand with great sno-cones and hamburgers, run by the Harris family.

1 Local Politics
2 In The Media
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 External links

[edit] Local Politics

Guerneville is politically in much the same Progressive/Liberal/Green space as the nearby city of Sebastopol, California. However, Guerneville's smaller size precludes city politics from being significant, while its relative poverty and support for the gay community changes the emphasis placed on various issues. The liberality of the town is generally consistent with most of western Sonoma County politics and this is one of the reasons the region continues to elect Lynn Woolsey as its representative to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Both environmental and gay activism are common in Guerneville. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Guerneville was quietly famous in the Bay area gay community for its AIDS support and services. A community-organized anti-logging lawsuit was a good excuse for a recent beer festival fundraiser.

[edit] In The Media

Guerneville's older metal truss bridge can be filmed from the newer bridge, as seen in this page's photo and made an appearance in the movie Mumford as a location for people to walk and talk in idyllic settings.

The Russian River area occasionally appears in local or even national news due to significant winter flooding, which occurs every ten years or so. When this happens, river height at the Guerneville bridge, is frequently mentioned, the worst such flood occurring in 1986. Locals know that the first thing to ask about river-front real estate in Guerneville is "what happens to it during a flood?" Long-term residents treat floods as a major headache, but a reasonable price paid for living in an extraordinarily beautiful place. Because so much of the housing is elevated, thanks in large part to FEMA grants, floods no longer have the impact they once did and recovery for most residents and businesses takes a couple of weeks.

[edit] Geography

Guerneville is located in western Sonoma County, along the Russian River on State Route 116, between Monte Rio to the west and Forestville to the east.　It is at 38°30′23″N, 122°59′27″W (38.506349, -122.990834)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.9 km² (3.4 mi²). 8.5 km² (3.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (4.65%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,441 people, 1,097 households, and 523 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 286.5/km² (743.0/mi²). There were 1,463 housing units at an average density of 171.7/km² (445.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 87.42% White, 0.70% African American, 1.07% Native American, 0.61% Asian, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 4.51% from other races, and 5.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.54% of the population.

There were 1,097 households out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.4% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 52.3% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 19.7% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 32.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 108.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.3 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $37,266, and the median income for a family was $45,875. Males had a median income of $32,350 versus $31,429 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,793. About 13.5% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.6% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.