Alpine County, California

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Alpine County, California

Map
Location in the state of California
California's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1864
Seat	Markleeville
Area - Total - Land - Water	743 sq mi (1,924 km²) 739 sq mi (1,914 km²) 5 sq mi (13 km²), 0.61%
Population - (2000) - Density	1,208 3/sq mi (1/km²)
Website: www.alpinecountyca.com

Alpine County is the smallest county, by population, in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 1,208. There are no incorporated cities in the county. The county seat is Markleeville.

Alpine County is located in the Sierra Nevada, between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Transportation Infrastructure
4 Demographics
5 Politics
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

Alpine County was created in 1854 during a silver boom in the wake of the nearby Comstock Lode discovery. The county was formed from parts of Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties. At its formation, the county had a population of about 11,000. By 1868 however, the local silver mines had proven unfruitful, and the population fell to about 1,200.

After the silver rush, Alpine County's economy consisted almost entirely of farming, ranching, and logging. By the 1920s, the population had fallen to just 200 people. With the construction of the Bear Valley and Kirkwood ski resorts in the late 1960s, the population increased to the present level.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 743 square miles (1,925 km²), of which, 739 square miles (1,913 km²) of it is land and 5 square miles (12 km²) of it (0.61%) is water.

[edit] Places

[edit] Adjacent counties

Mono County, California - east
Tuolumne County, California - south
Calaveras County, California - southwest
Amador County, California - west
El Dorado County, California - northwest
Douglas County, Nevada - north

[edit] National protected areas

[edit] Transportation Infrastructure

[edit] Major highways

Alpine county road sign on California State Route 89. Picture was taken by Constantine Kulikovsky during a snowstorm 26 May 2008

[edit] Public Transportation

There is limited, call ahead, public transportation provided by agreement with neighboring Douglas County, Nevada (There are a few trailhead shuttles, designed for hikers).

[edit] Airport

Alpine County Airport is a general aviation airport located near Markleeville.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 1,208 people, 483 households, and 295 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile (1/km²). There were 1,514 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 73.68% White, 0.58% Black or African American, 18.87% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.41% from other races, and 5.05% from two or more races. 7.78% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 12.1% were of German, 12.1% Irish, 9.3% English, 6.5% American and 5.7% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.0% spoke English, 3.1% Spanish and 2.0% Washo as their first language.

There were 483 households out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.9% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 10.40% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 110.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.2 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,875, and the median income for a family was $50,250. Males had a median income of $36,544 versus $25,800 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,431. About 12.0% of families and 19.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.4% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

Almost half of the population in the county is Mormon^[2].

[edit] Politics

**Presidential election results**
Year	DEM	GOP	Others
2004	53.2% 373	44.4% 311	2.4% 17
2000	45.2% 265	47.9% 281	6.8% 40
1996	42.0% 258	43.0% 264	15.0% 92
1992	34.1% 215	35.2% 222	30.8% 194
1988	41.7% 230	55.4% 306	2.9% 16
1984	41.6% 194	56.7% 264	1.7% 8
1980	28.9% 133	55.1% 254	15.1% 74
1976	42.3% 189	50.3% 225	7.4% 33
1972	33.9% 195	63.5% 366	2.6% 15
1968	32.8% 83	59.3% 150	7.9% 20
1964	42.3% 91	57.7% 124
1960	23.3% 40	76.7% 132

Alpine was a Republican-leaning county in Presidential and congressional elections for most of its history. The county narrowly voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and went comfortably for John Kerry in 2004, the first time Alpine voted Democratic in a presidential election since 1936, when Franklin Roosevelt carried every county in California.

According to the California Secretary of State, as of April, 2008, there are 776 registered voters in Alpine County. Of those, 282 (36.3%) are registered Democratic, 272 (35.1%) are registered Republican, 49 (6.3%) are registered with other policical parties, and 173 (22.3%) declined to state a political party.

Alpine is part of California's 3rd congressional district, which is held by Republican Dan Lungren. In the State Assembly, Alpine is part of the 4th district, which is held by Republican Ted Gaines, who was first elected to the Assembly in November 2006. In the State Senate, Alpine is part of the 1st district, which is held by Republican Dave Cox, who was first elected to the Senate in November 2004.