Penryn, California
Encyclopedia
Penryn is a census-designated place
in Placer County, California
, in the United States
. Geographic location is 38.85222°N 121.16833°W. Penryn is located 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of Rocklin
. The community's ZIP code
is 95663 and the area code 916
. The population was 831 at the 2010 census.
immigrant by the name of Griffith Griffith
established a granite
quarry
on quarter section of land leased from the Central Pacific Railroad
. A siding was completed on February 6, 1865, and the first load of cut stone was shipped less than a week later. The quarry was open for business, but as yet, had no name. The railroad, matter-of-factly, designated the siding “Griffith’s Granite Station,” but Griffith had something else in mind.
Back home in North Wales, G. G., like his father before him, worked in the Penrhyn Slate Quarry
. In Welsh
, the word penrhyn translates to headland or promontory, which aptly described the seaport from which the Penrhyn Quarry took its name. When it came to naming his new enterprise, the choice was obvious, but not the spelling. To simplify things and avoid the inevitable misspellings that were likely to occur, on the evening of May 17, 1865, Griffith, after discussing the matter with Central Pacific legal counsel Edwin Bryant Crocker
(known later for the Crocker Art Museum
), agreed to drop the “h” from the original Welsh spelling and settled on the name, and spelling, we know today. The following day, Griffith recorded this auspicious event in his diary: “Concluded last night with Judge Crocker to call this quarry Penryn.”
The quarry now had a name, but not the town, because there was no town, just the granite works and a railroad siding. Griffith’s employees all lived in the immediate area, so there were plenty of people, but no businesses outside of what amounted to a small “company store” near the quarry. The nearest supply centers of any consequence were Newcastle and Smithville, near present-day Loomis. Griffith’s early ledgers record numerous transactions at both places.
It was in 1869 that Griffith’s mercantile monopoly came to an end. That year, a large frame building housing a railroad depot, store and saloon, went up on the West side of the Central Pacific mainline, just South of today’s English Colony Way. In time, other businesses followed, but this single event marked the beginnings of what would soon evolve into the town of Penryn.
From the beginning, there was never any doubt or debate as to what the new town would be called. However, it’s interesting to note that most references, prior to 1870, generically applied the name “Griffith’s Quarry” or “Griffith’s Granite Quarry” to the area that included the small, embryonic village, which clearly indicates no name had yet been “officially” assigned to the place. That finally happened in May 1871, when Penryn was designated a voting precinct by the County of Placer. And the most “official” recognition of all came in June 1873 with the establishment of a U. S. Post Office. With that, you might say, the name “Penryn” was set in stone!
By the mid 1870s Penryn was an established community with a fine new schoolhouse, a hotel, at least one blacksmith shop, two or three stores and an equal number of saloons. The granite works was going strong, at peak times employing over 200 men, and would continue so until Griffith Griffith's death in February 1889. It was then purchased by Griffith's nephew, David Griffith, and would continue to operate on a somewhat smaller scale, until the latter Griffith's death in 1918. By the mid-1890s however, fruit raising had edged-out granite quarrying as the area's leading industry.
It was David Griffith's daughter, Enid, the great-niece of Griffith Griffith, who left the quarry property to the people of the County of Placer when she died in 1976. In accordance with her wishes, the site of the Penryn Granite Works is now a 23 acre (93,000 m2) park. The former quarry office building, erected in 1877, now houses the Griffith Quarry Museum, staffed by volunteers and open on weekends from noon until 4:00 pm or by appointment. Griffith Quarry was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1977, and is also California Historical Landmark
number 885.
Penryn granite is noted for its beauty and strength. Mottled in more-or-less equally sized specks of black and white, it appears a medium-to-dark gray in color, at first glance, but takes on an almost bluish-gray hue when viewed in a subdued light or, when wet or polished. This unique stone can be seen in the foundations and walls of a number of California landmarks including The State Capital and the old U.S. Mint in San Francisco.
Joel Parker Whitney owned thousands of acres of land in the Penryn area in the late 19th century. In the early 1890s, about 1,000 California fan palm
s were planted along the boundaries of Whitney's Placer County Citrus Colony citrus farming venture, and many still stand along English Colony Road. These palm trees, otherwise out of place among the native Sierra foothill oak forest, are a signature of the area.
, the CDP covers an area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), all of it land.
was 455.7 people per square mile (176.0/km²). The racial makeup of Penryn was 718 (86.4%) White, 3 (0.4%) African American, 22 (2.6%) Native American, 32 (3.9%) Asian, 3 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 27 (3.2%) from other races
, and 26 (3.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 79 persons (9.5%).
The Census reported that 831 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 310 households, out of which 100 (32.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 198 (63.9%) were opposite-sex married couples
living together, 27 (8.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 6 (1.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 10 (3.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
, and 2 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 65 households (21.0%) were made up of individuals and 28 (9.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68. There were 231 families
(74.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.14.
The population was spread out with 187 people (22.5%) under the age of 18, 68 people (8.2%) aged 18 to 24, 175 people (21.1%) aged 25 to 44, 271 people (32.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 130 people (15.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.2 years. For every 100 females there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.
There were 344 housing units at an average density of 188.7 per square mile (72.8/km²), of which 250 (80.6%) were owner-occupied, and 60 (19.4%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 11.6%. 696 people (83.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 135 people (16.2%) lived in rental housing units.
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
in Placer County, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Geographic location is 38.85222°N 121.16833°W. Penryn is located 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of Rocklin
Rocklin, California
Rocklin is a city in Placer County, California located in the metropolitan area of Sacramento. It shares borders with Roseville, Loomis, and Lincoln...
. The community's ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
is 95663 and the area code 916
Area code 916
North American area code 916 is an area code based in Sacramento, California. The telephone area code was one of the first three original area codes established in California in October, 1947. It covered the far northern portion of the state. It was split in a flash-cut on October, 26, 1957, at...
. The population was 831 at the 2010 census.
History
The story of Penryn begins in late 1864 when a WelshWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
immigrant by the name of Griffith Griffith
Griffith Griffith
Griffith Wynne Griffith was a Welsh Presbyterian minister, who became one of the leaders of the denomination. He was also editor of two journals, a member of the committee for a new translation of the Bible into Welsh and a member of the Council and Court of Governors of University College, Bangor...
established a granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
on quarter section of land leased from the Central Pacific Railroad
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
. A siding was completed on February 6, 1865, and the first load of cut stone was shipped less than a week later. The quarry was open for business, but as yet, had no name. The railroad, matter-of-factly, designated the siding “Griffith’s Granite Station,” but Griffith had something else in mind.
Back home in North Wales, G. G., like his father before him, worked in the Penrhyn Slate Quarry
Penrhyn Quarry
The Penrhyn Slate Quarry is a slate quarry located near Bethesda in north Wales. At the end of the nineteenth century it was the world's largest slate quarry; the main pit is nearly long and deep, and it was worked by nearly 3,000 quarrymen. It has since been superseded in size by slate quarries...
. In Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, the word penrhyn translates to headland or promontory, which aptly described the seaport from which the Penrhyn Quarry took its name. When it came to naming his new enterprise, the choice was obvious, but not the spelling. To simplify things and avoid the inevitable misspellings that were likely to occur, on the evening of May 17, 1865, Griffith, after discussing the matter with Central Pacific legal counsel Edwin Bryant Crocker
Edwin B. Crocker
Edwin Bryant Crocker was a California Supreme Court Justice and founder of the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California.-Biography:...
(known later for the Crocker Art Museum
Crocker Art Museum
The Crocker Art Museum is one of the leading arts institutions in California, and the longest continuously operating art museum in the West. Located in Sacramento, California, the Crocker has been an art innovator since 1885...
), agreed to drop the “h” from the original Welsh spelling and settled on the name, and spelling, we know today. The following day, Griffith recorded this auspicious event in his diary: “Concluded last night with Judge Crocker to call this quarry Penryn.”
The quarry now had a name, but not the town, because there was no town, just the granite works and a railroad siding. Griffith’s employees all lived in the immediate area, so there were plenty of people, but no businesses outside of what amounted to a small “company store” near the quarry. The nearest supply centers of any consequence were Newcastle and Smithville, near present-day Loomis. Griffith’s early ledgers record numerous transactions at both places.
It was in 1869 that Griffith’s mercantile monopoly came to an end. That year, a large frame building housing a railroad depot, store and saloon, went up on the West side of the Central Pacific mainline, just South of today’s English Colony Way. In time, other businesses followed, but this single event marked the beginnings of what would soon evolve into the town of Penryn.
From the beginning, there was never any doubt or debate as to what the new town would be called. However, it’s interesting to note that most references, prior to 1870, generically applied the name “Griffith’s Quarry” or “Griffith’s Granite Quarry” to the area that included the small, embryonic village, which clearly indicates no name had yet been “officially” assigned to the place. That finally happened in May 1871, when Penryn was designated a voting precinct by the County of Placer. And the most “official” recognition of all came in June 1873 with the establishment of a U. S. Post Office. With that, you might say, the name “Penryn” was set in stone!
By the mid 1870s Penryn was an established community with a fine new schoolhouse, a hotel, at least one blacksmith shop, two or three stores and an equal number of saloons. The granite works was going strong, at peak times employing over 200 men, and would continue so until Griffith Griffith's death in February 1889. It was then purchased by Griffith's nephew, David Griffith, and would continue to operate on a somewhat smaller scale, until the latter Griffith's death in 1918. By the mid-1890s however, fruit raising had edged-out granite quarrying as the area's leading industry.
It was David Griffith's daughter, Enid, the great-niece of Griffith Griffith, who left the quarry property to the people of the County of Placer when she died in 1976. In accordance with her wishes, the site of the Penryn Granite Works is now a 23 acre (93,000 m2) park. The former quarry office building, erected in 1877, now houses the Griffith Quarry Museum, staffed by volunteers and open on weekends from noon until 4:00 pm or by appointment. Griffith Quarry was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1977, and is also California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
number 885.
Penryn granite is noted for its beauty and strength. Mottled in more-or-less equally sized specks of black and white, it appears a medium-to-dark gray in color, at first glance, but takes on an almost bluish-gray hue when viewed in a subdued light or, when wet or polished. This unique stone can be seen in the foundations and walls of a number of California landmarks including The State Capital and the old U.S. Mint in San Francisco.
Joel Parker Whitney owned thousands of acres of land in the Penryn area in the late 19th century. In the early 1890s, about 1,000 California fan palm
Washingtonia
Washingtonia is a genus of palms, native to the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico...
s were planted along the boundaries of Whitney's Placer County Citrus Colony citrus farming venture, and many still stand along English Colony Road. These palm trees, otherwise out of place among the native Sierra foothill oak forest, are a signature of the area.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP covers an area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Penryn had a population of 831. The population densityPopulation density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 455.7 people per square mile (176.0/km²). The racial makeup of Penryn was 718 (86.4%) White, 3 (0.4%) African American, 22 (2.6%) Native American, 32 (3.9%) Asian, 3 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 27 (3.2%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 26 (3.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 79 persons (9.5%).
The Census reported that 831 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 310 households, out of which 100 (32.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 198 (63.9%) were opposite-sex married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 27 (8.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 6 (1.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 10 (3.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
POSSLQ
POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....
, and 2 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 65 households (21.0%) were made up of individuals and 28 (9.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68. There were 231 families
Family (U.S. Census)
A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...
(74.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.14.
The population was spread out with 187 people (22.5%) under the age of 18, 68 people (8.2%) aged 18 to 24, 175 people (21.1%) aged 25 to 44, 271 people (32.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 130 people (15.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.2 years. For every 100 females there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.
There were 344 housing units at an average density of 188.7 per square mile (72.8/km²), of which 250 (80.6%) were owner-occupied, and 60 (19.4%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 11.6%. 696 people (83.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 135 people (16.2%) lived in rental housing units.
External links
- Griffith Quarry museum
- Penryn Granite Quarry Visit - Photographic Tour, on Stone Quarries and Beyond.
- Penryn School
- Penryn Heritage Palm Conservation Foundation