Tehama County, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tehama County, California
Seal of Tehama County, California
Map
Map of California highlighting Tehama County
Location in the state of California
Map of the U.S. highlighting California
California's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded 1856
Seat Red Bluff
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

2,962 sq mi (7,672 km²)

11 sq mi (28 km²), 0.38%
Population
 - (2000)
 - Density

56,039
18/sq mi (7/km²)
Website: www.co.tehama.ca.us

Tehama County (pronounced teh-HAY-muh) is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of California. It is bisected by the Sacramento River. As of 2000 its population was 56,039. The county seat is Red Bluff.

Contents

[edit] History

Tehama County was formed from parts of Butte, Colusa and Shasta Counties in 1856.

The county is named for the City of Tehama. Suggested possible roots are the Arabic word tehama ("hot low-lands"), the Spanish word tejamanil (shingle), or "high water" in the dialect of local Native Americans.

Famous early figures include Kit Carson, who took part in a fight that gave name to Bloody Island and Battle Creek, Jedidiah Smith, William Chard, John Fremont, and William B. Ide, the first and only president of the California Republic.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,962 square miles (7,672 km²), of which, 2,951 square miles (7,643 km²) of it is land and 11 square miles (29 km²) of it (0.38%) is water. A small part of Lassen Volcanic National Park extends into the northeast corner of the county.

[edit] Cities and towns

[edit] Adjacent counties

Red Bluff Court House, California
Red Bluff Court House, California

[edit] National protected areas

[edit] Transportation Infrastructure

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Public Transportation

Tehama Rural Area Express (TRAX) operates local service in Red Bluff and service to Los Molinos and Corning. Greyhound buses stop in Red Bluff.

[edit] Airports

Red Bluff Municipal Airport and Corning Municipal Airport are two general aviation airports.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 56,039 people, 21,013 households, and 14,898 families residing in the county. The population density was 19 people per square mile (7/km²). There were 23,547 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.79% White, 0.57% Black or African American, 2.10% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 8.26% from other races, and 3.39% from two or more races. 15.83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 14.4% were of German, 11.0% English, 9.6% Irish and 9.5% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 86.0% spoke English and 13.0% Spanish as their first language.

There were 21,013 households out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,206, and the median income for a family was $37,277. Males had a median income of $30,872 versus $22,864 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,793. About 13.0% of families and 17.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.0% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Politics

Presidential election results
Year GOP DEM Others
2004 66.4% 15,572 32.0% 7,504 1.6% 368
2000 63.6% 13,270 31.2% 6,507 5.2% 1,077
1996 50.3% 10,292 35.7% 7,290 14.0% 2,861
1992 35.4% 7,419 35.8% 7,508 28.9% 6,052
1988 56.5% 9,854 41.4% 7,213 2.1% 367
1984 62.8% 11,586 35.4% 6,527 1.9% 342
1980 59.1% 9,140 31.3% 4,832 6.6% 1,485
1976 44.8% 6,110 51.3% 6,990 3.9% 535
1972 48.7% 6,054 41.7% 5,175 9.6% 1,195
1968 47.3% 5,198 41.5% 4,565 11.2% 1,236
1964 39.5% 4,529 60.4% 6,928 0.1% 10
1960 50.0% 5,522 49.6% 5,483 0.4% 47

Tehama is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Tehama is part of California's 2nd congressional district, which is held by Republican Wally Herger. In the state legislature Tehama is in the 2nd Assembly district, which is held by Republican Doug LaMalfa, and the 4th Senate district, which is held by Republican Sam Aanestad.

[edit] References

  1. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 40°08′N 122°14′W / 40.13, -122.23