Tulare County, California
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| Tulare County, California | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of California |
|
 California's location in the U.S. |
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| Statistics | |
| Founded | 1852 |
|---|---|
| Seat | Visalia |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
4,863 sq mi (12,595 km²) 4,824 sq mi (12,494 km²) 15 sq mi (39 km²), 0.31% |
| Population - (2007) - Density |
429,006 75/sq mi (29/km²) |
| Website: www.co.tulare.ca.us | |
Tulare County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Fresno. Sequoia National Park is located in the county, as are part of Kings Canyon National Park, in its northeast corner (shared with Fresno County), and part of Mount Whitney, on its eastern border (shared with Inyo County). As of 2000 the population was 368,021; as of 2007 the population estimate was 429,006. Its county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes and now drained.
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[edit] History
Tulare County was formed from parts of Mariposa County in 1852. Parts of the county's territory were given to Fresno County in 1856, to Kern County in 1866, to Inyo County in 1866 and Kings County in 1893.
Comandante Pedro Fages, while hunting for deserters in 1772, discovered a great lake surrounded by marshes and filled with rushes which he named Los Tules (the tules). It is from this lake that the county derives its name. The root of the name Tulare is found in the Mexican word tullin, designating cattail or similar reeds.
The infectious disease Tularemia caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis is named after Tulare County.
[edit] Economy
Tulare County bears the unfortunate distinction of being the one of the most impoverished counties in California[1], despite its proximity to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Milk brings in the most revenue for the county, typically more than US$ 1 billion a year annually. Oranges, grapes, and other cattle-related commodities also bring in hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
In 2001, Tulare became the most productive county in the U.S. in terms of agricultural revenues at US$ 3.5 billion annually, surpassing Fresno County's US$ 3.2 billion, which held the spot for over two decades.
Due to the importance of agriculture in the county as well as its location in the state, the city of Tulare (in Tulare County) has been the home of the annual World Ag Expo,[1] the world's largest agricultural exposition, since 1968.
An influential contribution to Tulare County is minor league sports like the baseball Visalia Oaks of the class-A California League, two teams of the Minor League Football Association in Tulare and Visalia, and four teams of the Porterville Fresno Basketball League based in Porterville.[citation needed]
[edit] Geography
[edit] Adjacent counties
- Fresno County - north
- Inyo County - east
- Kern County - south
- Kings County - west
[edit] National protected areas
- Giant Sequoia National Monument (part)
- Inyo National Forest (part)
- Kings Canyon National Park (part)
- Sequoia National Forest (part)
- Sequoia National Park
[edit] Transportation infrastructure
[edit] Major highways
[edit] Public transportation
Tulare County Transit provides a countywide bus service linking the population centers. A connection to Delano in Kern County is also operated.
The cities of Tulare, Porterville, and Visalia have their own local bus services.
Greyhound and Orange Belt Stages provide long-distance, intercity bus service.
[edit] Airports
Visalia Municipal Airport has limited passenger service. Sequoia Field, just north of Visalia, is a County-owned general aviation airport.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 368,021 people, 110,385 households, and 87,093 families residing in the county. The population density was 76 people per square mile (29/km²). There were 119,639 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile (10/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 58.08% White, 1.59% Black or African American, 1.56% Native American, 3.27% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 30.79% from other races, and 4.60% from two or more races. 50.77% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 6.2% were of American, 5.7% German and 5.0% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 56.3% spoke English, 38.9% Spanish and 1.1% Portuguese as their first language.
There were 110,385 households out of which 44.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.1% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.1% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.28 and the average family size was 3.67.
In the county the population was spread out with 33.8% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.7 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,983, and the median income for a family was $36,297. Males had a median income of $30,892 versus $24,589 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,006. About 18.8% of families and 23.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.6% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Politics
| Year | GOP | DEM | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 66.2% 65,399 | 32.9% 32,494 | 1.0% 967 |
| 2000 | 60.2% 54,070 | 36.8% 33,006 | 3.1% 2,742 |
| 1996 | 53.9% 46,272 | 38.1% 32,669 | 8.1% 6,905 |
| 1992 | 45.7% 40,482 | 35.2% 31,188 | 19.1% 16,883 |
| 1988 | 59.6% 46,891 | 39.0% 30,711 | 1.4% 1,067 |
| 1984 | 63.9% 51,066 | 35.1% 28,065 | 1.0% 812 |
| 1980 | 58.3% 41,317 | 35.5% 25,155 | 6.2% 4,374 |
| 1976 | 54.5% 31,864 | 43.7% 25,551 | 1.8% 1,027 |
| 1972 | 59.9% 36,048 | 36.2% 21,775 | 3.9% 2,327 |
| 1968 | 52.2% 29,314 | 39.5% 22,180 | 8.4% 4,695 |
| 1964 | 39.8% 22,527 | 60.1% 33,974 | 0.1% 51 |
| 1960 | 54.0% 29,456 | 45.6% 24,887 | 0.4% 239 |
Tulare is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democratic candidate for President to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
Tulare is part of California's 21st congressional district, which is held by Republican Devin Nunes. In the State Assembly, Tulare is in the 29th, 30th, 31st, and 34th districts. The 30th and 31st are held by Democrats Nicole Parra and Juan Arambula, respectively while the 29th and 34th are held by Republicans Michael Villines and Bill Maze, respectively. In the State Senate, Tulare is part of the 16th and 18th districts, which are held by Democrat Dean Florez and Republican Roy Ashburn respectively.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ World Ag Expo
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
- Tulare County official website
- Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer official website (with Annual Crop and Livestock Reports)
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