Lake Arrowhead, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lake Arrowhead is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, USA. It lies within a census-designated place (CDP) by the same name. The population of the CDP was 8,934 at the 2000 census. Lake Arrowhead Village is an unincorporated community, with the Chamber of Commerce the de facto governing body. As of January 2007, Kirk Coult is the Chairman and Lewis Murray is the President/CEO of the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce.
The University of California, Los Angeles operates the nearby UCLA Conference Center, a full-service conference facility with lodging and meeting space.
For many years, Lake Arrowhead was the home of Santa's Village, "a fairyland setting where Santa's gnomes, elves and little animal friends make up a children's and grownups' paradise the year round." The tourist attraction opened in 1955 and closed 1998.
The Lake Arrowhead Yacht Club began operations in 1932 and is home to over 350 members and a fleet of over 35 sailboats. The boats that are sailed are the C-scow, Hobie, Gary 18, Holder, and Byte.
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[edit] Economy & Culture
As a scenic mountain resort in the San Bernardino Mountains, Lake Arrowhead's economy is almost completely supported by tourism, both by casual vacationers and part-time residents. Despite this, full-time residents of Lake Arrowhead and surrounding mountain communities maintain a strong identity and sense of local pride. This sense of community is evidenced by local phrases used freely during conversations between residents. These include "up the hill" and "down the hill" to indicate movement or location away from or towards the mountains (as in the phrase "I'm going down the hill tomorrow to visit my mother.") Another common local word is "flatlander", always used to indicate non-residents and often used in a derogatory way to describe their ignorance of mountain life. An example might be "When will the flatlanders learn that you can't drive so fast on the ice?"
While Lake Arrowhead has no official "town center", the Lake Arrowhead Village serves as the main commercial area for both locals and tourists and includes a number of factory outlets, botiques, restaurants, and a supermarket.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) Lake Arrowhead is located at . This is near the intersection of State Routes 173 and 189 near the economic center of the community. According to the United States Census Bureau Lake Arrowhead is located at (34.256290, -117.191326)GR1. This is near the geographic center of the CDP. The CDP has a total area of 32.8 km² (12.7 mi²). 29.7 km² (11.4 mi²) of it is land and 3.2 km² (1.2 mi²) of it (9.71%) is water.
Outside of Lake Arrowhead Village there are several residential communities, which include: Cedar Glen and Deer Lodge Park just to name two. There are two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school in the area. Seven miles north of Lake Arrowhead is the Pacific Crest Trail, which boasts some of the most scenic vistas in Southern California.
[edit] The Lake
Lake Arrowhead is a manmade reservoir with a surface area of approximately 780 acres and a capacity of 48,000 acre-feet.[1]
The lake was originally intended to serve as part of a major waterworks project to provide irrigation water to the San Bernardino Valley, and construction of the Lake Arrowhead Dam began towards that end in 1904. However, the original project was halted due to litigation over water supplies to land owners on the desert side of the mountains. Construction of the dam was completed in 1922 by the Arrowhead Lake Company, a Los Angeles syndicate, as part of a plan to develop the area into a resort.[2]
Use of the lake is currently controlled by the Arrowhead Lake Association, which maintains the lake for the recreational use of its members.[3] The Lake Arrowhead Community Services District withdraws water from the lake for treatment and distribution to local residents for potable use.[4]
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 8,934 people, 3,243 households, and 2,445 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 301.3/km² (780.4/mi²). There were 8,857 housing units at an average density of 298.7/km² (773.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.47% White, 0.56% African American, 0.88% Native American, 1.02% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 3.87% from other races, and 3.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.55% of the population.
There were 3,243 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.6% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 28.9% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 100.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $60,826, and the median income for a family was $65,183. Males had a median income of $50,016 versus $35,526 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $28,176. About 7.3% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] References
- ^ Listing of Dams. California Department of Water Resources, Division of Dam Safety. Retrieved on February 21, 2007.
- ^ Lake Arrowhead History. bigbear.us. Retrieved on February 21, 2007.
- ^ What is the Arrowhead Lake Association (ALA)?. Arrowhead Lake Association. Retrieved on February 21, 2007.
- ^ Water Services. Lake Arrowhead Community Services District. Retrieved on February 21, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Lake Arrowhead Area Lodging, Dining and Real Estate Information
- Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce
- Lake Arrowhead Village
- Lake Arrowhead Yacht Club Website
- Arrowhead Lake Association
- Lake Arrowhead Community Services District
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
