Weaverville, California

Weaverville
Census designated place
Location in Trinity County and the state of California
Weaverville Location in the United States
Coordinates: 40°44′12″N 122°56′10″W / 40.73667°N 122.93611°W / 40.73667; -122.93611Coordinates: 40°44′12″N 122°56′10″W / 40.73667°N 122.93611°W / 40.73667; -122.93611
Country	United States
State	California
County	Trinity
Area[1]
• Total	10.424 sq mi (26.999 km2)
• Land	10.424 sq mi (26.999 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)  0%
Elevation[2]	2,051 ft (625 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	3,600
• Density	350/sq mi (130/km2)
Time zone	Pacific (UTC−8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC−7)
ZIP code	96093
Area code	530
FIPS code	06-83794
GNIS feature IDs	1652649, 2409537

Weaverville is a census designated place and the county seat of Trinity County, California in the United States. The population was 3,600 at the 2010 census, up from 3,554 at the 2000 census.

History

Founded in 1850, Weaverville is a historic California Gold Rush town. Nestled at the foot of the current Trinity Alps Wilderness Area, Weaverville was once home to approximately 2,000 Chinese gold miners, and had its own Chinatown.

Logging and tourism were the economic mainstays of Weaverville for many years. The regional economy has been in steady decline for many years, with only a small uplift brought about by the global real estate bubble. As of April, 2009 Trinity County’s unemployment rate stood at 20.9% (NY Times).

Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park

The Weaverville Joss House (also called "The Temple of the Forest Beneath the Clouds"), a Taoist temple, was built in 1874 and is California's best preserved example of a Gold Rush-era Chinese place of worship. The temple is now the Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park, and its interior, including an intricately carved wooden altar, can be viewed by visitors.

Geography and climate

Weaverville is located at 40°44′12″N 122°56′10″W / 40.73667°N 122.93611°W / 40.73667; -122.93611 (40.736687, -122.936208).^[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 10.4 square miles (27 km²), all of it land.

Weaverville has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa/Csb) though owing to its inland valley location the town is wetter and observes much larger diurnal temperature variations, creating colder mornings, than considered prototypical for the climate type. The National Weather Service has had a cooperative weather station in Weaverville since 1894. Based on those records, average January temperatures are a maximum of 47.2 °F or 8.4 °C and a minimum of 27.4 °F or −2.6 °C, whilst July temperatures average a maximum of 94.1 °F or 34.5 °C and a minimum of 49.1 °F or 9.5 °C. There are an average of 77.3 afternoons with highs of 90 °F or 32.2 °C or higher, plus an average of 126.8 mornings with lows of 32 °F or 0 °C or lower, although only two afternoons every three years fail to top freezing and only one morning every three years will fall to or below 0 °F or −17.8 °C. The record high temperature was 116 °F (46.7 °C) on August 4, 1932, and the record low temperature was −10 °F (−23.3 °C) on December 9, 1972.

Average annual precipitation is 35.45 inches or 900.4 millimetres, with an average of 83 days annually with measurable precipitation. The most precipitation in one month was 20.86 inches (529.8 mm) in December 2005, whilst the wettest “rain year” was from July 1982 to June 1983 with at least 65.82 inches or 1,671.8 millimetres (several days missing) and the driest from July 1990 to June 1991 with 19.02 inches (483.1 mm)^[4] – although the 1976–77 “rain year” with many days in May missing had a recorded total of only 12.73 inches or 323.3 millimetres. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 5.50 inches on January 4, 1982. Average annual snowfall is 22.5 inches or 0.57 metres. The most snowfall in one month was 75.3 inches (1.91 m) in January 1950.^[5]

Demographics

One of many spiral staircases in Weaverville

2010

The 2010 United States Census^[6] reported that Weaverville had a population of 3,600. The population density was 345.4 people per square mile (133.3/km²). The racial makeup of Weaverville was 3,162 (87.8%) White, 11 (0.3%) African American, 152 (4.2%) Native American, 41 (1.1%) Asian, 1 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 38 (1.1%) from other races, and 195 (5.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 255 persons (7.1%).

The Census reported that 3,473 people (96.5% of the population) lived in households, 61 (1.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 66 (1.8%) were institutionalized.

There were 1,513 households, out of which 440 (29.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 622 (41.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 185 (12.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 112 (7.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 145 (9.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 12 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 473 households (31.3%) were made up of individuals and 196 (13.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30. There were 919 families (60.7% of all households); the average family size was 2.80.

The population was spread out with 842 people (23.4%) under the age of 18, 247 people (6.9%) aged 18 to 24, 734 people (20.4%) aged 25 to 44, 1,109 people (30.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 668 people (18.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.4 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.

There were 1,675 housing units at an average density of 160.7 per square mile (62.0/km²), of which 908 (60.0%) were owner-occupied, and 605 (40.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.8%. 2,089 people (58.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,384 people (38.4%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the census^[7] of 2000, there were 3,554 people, 1,513 households, and 960 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 100.4 people per square mile (38.8/km²). There were 1,653 housing units at an average density of 46.7 per square mile (18.0/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 91.5% White, 0.3% African American, 2.9% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.3% of the population.

There were 1,513 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $30,319, and the median income for a family was $37,813. Males had a median income of $34,091 versus $24,722 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $18,297. About 13.2% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.6% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

In the California State Legislature, Weaverville is in the 2nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Mike McGuire, and in the 2nd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Jim Wood.^[8]

In the United States House of Representatives, Weaverville is in California's 2nd congressional district, represented by Democrat Jared Huffman.^[9]

Events

• Six Hours of Weaverville, mountain bike endurance race, May
• KALI Spring Enduro, mountain bike stage race, May
• Lagrange Fall Classic, Northern California Mountain Bike Championship Series Finals, October

Cultural references

• Junction City (about 8 miles from Weaverville) has a Tibetan Buddhist temple, Rigdzin Ling, part of the Chagdud Gonpa Foundation founded by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.
• The 1938 film, Gold Is Where You Find It, was filmed in and around Weaverville.
• The Mary McCaslin song, "The Ballad of Weaverville", gives a fictional account of the town's name as being that of a gambler, Jim Weaver, who had the town named after him as his final bet, after winning all of the town's gold.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Weaverville, California.

• Weaverville information
• Weaverville news
• A History of Chinese Americans in California: Won Lim Temple - a State Historic Park and a State Historical Landmark
• Historic Weaverville information

Municipalities and communities of Trinity County, California, United States
County seat: Weaverville
CDPs	Burnt Ranch Coffee Creek Douglas City Hayfork Hyampom Junction City Lewiston Mad River Ruth Trinity Center Trinity Village Weaverville
Unincorporated communities	Big Bar Del Loma Denny Forest Glen Hawkins Bar Helena Peanut Salyer Zenia
Indian reservation	Round Valley Reservation
Ghost towns	Deadwood Dedrick Minersville