Swall Meadows, California

Swall Meadows
—  census-designated place  —
Swall Meadows
Position in California.
Coordinates:
Country  United States
State  California
County Mono
Area[1]
 • Total 4.462 sq mi (11.556 km2)
 • Land 4.462 sq mi (11.556 km2)
 • Water 0 sq mi (0 km2)  0%
Elevation[2] 6,558 ft (1,999 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 220
 • Density 49.3/sq mi (19/km2)
Time zone Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP Code 93514
Area code(s) 760; 442
GNIS feature ID 2583158
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Swall Meadows, California

Swall Meadows is a census-designated place[3] in southern unincorporated Mono County, California. The community is residential, including second homes and a volunteer fire department, but no commercial development. Geographically, it sits on the Sherwin Grade, at an elevation range of approximately 6,100 to 6,800 feet (1,900 to 2,100 m) in a pinon-juniper/subalpine zone habitat (image, top left), with views along the Sierra Crest (image, left), of Mt. Tom, and across Owens Valley to the White Mountains (image, left). It is accessed from "old 395", or Lower Rock Creek Rd. Swall Meadows is located approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of Bishop and 25 miles (40 km) south of Mammoth Lakes (by highway distance). It is also well known in the area as an important deer migration route for the Round Valley Mule Deer population, which cherish the grazing in the meadow and apple falls from the old orchard trees (image, left). The ZIP Code is 93514.[4] The community is inside area code 760. The population was 220 as of the 2010 census.

Contents

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 4.5 square miles (11.6 km²), all of it land. In addition to the predominant pinyon-juniper-sagebrush habitat, there is a stream and the eponymous meadow with wetter-habitat vegetation such as Jeffrey pines, willows, stream and bog orchids, and the remnant trees of the old commercial apple orchard. In 2011 the Eastern Sierra Land Trust secured a conservation easement to protect 104 acres of the Swall Meadows meadow area (location of the historic homesite), for the continued benefit of the migrating mule deer. A number of other conservation easements have been completed in Swall Meadows since the organization was founded in 2001. Between Paradise and Swall Meadows the old wagon road can be seen (image, bottom left) that climbed about 3000ft up the Sherwin Grade from Owens Valley toward Crowley Lake.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census[5] reported that Swall Meadows had a population of 220. The population density was 49.3 people per square mile (19.0/km²). The racial makeup of Swall Meadows was 201 (91.4%) White, 0 (0.0%) African American, 3 (1.4%) Native American, 5 (2.3%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 2 (0.9%) from other races, and 9 (4.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6 persons (2.7%).

The Census reported that 220 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 98 households, out of which 25 (25.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 68 (69.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4 (4.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 3 (3.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2 (2.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0 (0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 21 households (21.4%) were made up of individuals and 10 (10.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24. There were 75 families (76.5% of all households); the average family size was 2.60.

The population was spread out with 36 people (16.4%) under the age of 18, 6 people (2.7%) aged 18 to 24, 37 people (16.8%) aged 25 to 44, 99 people (45.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 42 people (19.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53.8 years. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.

There were 128 housing units at an average density of 28.7 per square mile (11.1/km²), of which 90 (91.8%) were owner-occupied, and 8 (8.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%; the rental vacancy rate was 0%. 201 people (91.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 19 people (8.6%) lived in rental housing units.

Politics

In the state legislature Swall Meadows is located in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Ted Gaines, and in the 25th Assembly District, represented by Republican Kristin Olsen. Federally, Swall Meadows is located in California's 25th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +7[6] and is represented by Republican Buck McKeon.

References

  1. ^ U.S. Census
  2. ^ 2583158 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Swall Meadows, California
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Swall Meadows, California
  4. ^ USPS online look up
  5. ^ All data are derived from the United States Census Bureau reports from the 2010 United States Census, and are accessible on-line here. The data on unmarried partnerships and same-sex married couples are from the Census report DEC_10_SF1_PCT15. All other housing and population data are from Census report DEC_10_DP_DPDP1. Both reports are viewable online or downloadable in a zip file containing a comma-delimited data file. The area data, from which densities are calculated, are available on-line here. Percentage totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. The Census Bureau defines families as a household containing one or more people related to the householder by birth, opposite-sex marriage, or adoption. People living in group quarters are tabulated by the Census Bureau as neither owners nor renters. For further details, see the text files accompanying the data files containing the Census reports mentioned above.
  6. ^ "Will Gerrymandered Districts Stem the Wave of Voter Unrest?". Campaign Legal Center Blog. http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-85.html. Retrieved 2007-10-20.