| Big Creek | |
|---|---|
| — census-designated place — | |
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Big Creek
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Fresno County |
| Area[1] | |
| • Total | 0.460 sq mi (1.191 km2) |
| • Land | 0.460 sq mi (1.191 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) 0% |
| Elevation[2] | 4,984 ft (1,519 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 175 |
| • Density | 380.6/sq mi (146.9/km2) |
| Time zone | Pacific (PST) (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP Code | 93605 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1659696; 2628711 |
| U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Big Creek, California; U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Big Creek, California | |
Big Creek (Big Creek Flats in the 1870s; Manzanita Park in 1902; until 1926, Cascada)[3] is a small census-designated place[4] in Fresno County, California located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the north bank of Big Creek. It lies at an elevation of 4984 feet (1519 m).[2] Its population is 175. The ZIP Code is 93605, and the community is inside area code 559.
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Big Creek was built at the site of the first dam and power plant of Southern California Edison's Big Creek hydroelectric project, one of the most extensive in the world. Other than the private helipad owned by Southern California Edison, the only way in or out of the town is Big Creek Road, off of State Route 168. The dam has a walkway across it to the south bank, but access is limited to employees of SCE and those residents who have been given a key. Its major industries are electric power generation and tourism. There is camping and water recreation in the summer and snow skiing in the winter. Huntington Lake is to the northeast and Shaver Lake is to the south. Sierra Summit is only about 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) away. Though Big Creek's only school is an elementary, it teaches kindergarten through 8th grade.
Those who reside in Big Creek have many interesting tales of the town and its surroundings. One legend claims that some of the giant steel penstock pipes which carry water from Huntington Lake to the hydroelectric plant, visible running down the mountainside, "are stamped with a swastika because the pipes were purchased from the Krupp Works in Nazi Germany before the United States entered World War II." This is a fallacy. The penstock pipes for the original two units at Big Creek Power Houses One and Two, built 1912-13, were purchased from the Krupp Works in Germany because at that time that manufacturer produced steel pipes of the tensile strength needed to contain the very high water pressures in the pipes in the 1500 foot drop down to Power House One. These pipes were purchased twenty one years before the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, and before the NSDAP party even existed. There is no visual evidence of swastikas (once used as a Hindu symbol of good luck) on any Big Creek penstock pipe. All post-World War One penstock pipes were manufactured in the United States.[5] In addition, Big Creek is the hometown of Carver Mead, a Caltech electrical engineering professor who is responsible for developing the first GaAs MESFET and for his pioneering contributions to VLSI design.
The first post office opened at Big Creek in 1912.[3]
The 2010 United States Census[6] reported that Big Creek had a population of 175. The population density was 380.4 people per square mile (146.9/km²). The racial makeup of Big Creek was 158 (90.3%) White, 1 (0.6%) African American, 1 (0.6%) Native American, 5 (2.9%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 3 (1.7%) from other races, and 7 (4.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 27 persons (15.4%).
The Census reported that 175 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 63 households, out of which 26 (41.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 43 (68.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1 (1.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 3 (4.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 4 (6.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 2 (3.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 12 households (19.0%) were made up of individuals and 2 (3.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78. There were 47 families (74.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.21.
The population was spread out with 60 people (34.3%) under the age of 18, 4 people (2.3%) aged 18 to 24, 37 people (21.1%) aged 25 to 44, 58 people (33.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 16 people (9.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.6 years. For every 100 females there were 86.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.1 males.
There were 117 housing units at an average density of 254.3 per square mile (98.2/km²), of which 22 (34.9%) were owner-occupied, and 41 (65.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%; the rental vacancy rate was 31.1%. 47 people (26.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 128 people (73.1%) lived in rental housing units.