Yreka, California
Encyclopedia
Yreka is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Siskiyou County, California
Siskiyou County, California
Siskiyou County is a county located in the far northernmost part of the U.S. state of California, in the Shasta Cascade region on the Oregon border. Yreka is the county seat. Because of its substantial natural beauty, outdoor recreation opportunities, and Gold Rush era history, it is an important...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 7,765 at the 2010 census, up from 7,290 at the 2000 census.

History

In March 1851 Abraham Thompson, a mule train packer, discovered gold near Rocky Gulch while traveling along the Siskiyou Trail
Siskiyou Trail
The Siskiyou Trail stretched from California's Central Valley to Oregon's Willamette Valley; modern-day Interstate 5 follows this pioneer path...

 from southern Oregon. This discovery sparked the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

 from California's Sierra Nevada into Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

. By April 1851, 2,000 miners had arrived in "Thompson's Dry Diggings" to test their luck, and by June 1851, a gold rush "boomtown" of tents, shanties, and a few rough cabins had sprung up. Several name changes occurred until the little city was called Yreka. The name comes from the Shasta
Shasta language
-External links:* overview at the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages*...

 /wáik'a/, of which Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...

 is named for. The word means "north mountain" or "white mountain". Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

, in his Autobiography (p. 162, Harper/Perennial Literary, 1990), tells a different story:
Harte had arrived in California in the [eighteen-]fifties, twenty-three or twenty-four years old, and had wandered up into the surface diggings of the camp at Yreka, a place which had acquired its mysterious name — when in its first days it much needed a name — through an accident. There was a bakeshop with a canvas sign which had not yet been put up but had been painted and stretched to dry in such a way that the word BAKERY, all but the B, showed through and was reversed. A stranger read it wrong end first, YREKA, and supposed that that was the name of the camp. The campers were satisfied with it and adopted it.


Well-known poet Joaquin Miller
Joaquin Miller
Joaquin Miller was the pen name of the colorful American poet Cincinnatus Heine Miller , nicknamed the "Poet of the Sierras".-Early years and family:...

 described Yreka during 1853–1854 as a bustling place with "... a tide of people up and down and across other streets, as strong as if a city on the East Coast". Incorporation proceedings were completed on April 21, 1857.

In November 1941, Yreka was designated as the capital of the proposed State of Jefferson, a secession movement along the Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 and 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...

 border that has gained cultural traction in the following decades.

Commerce and tourism

Located at the northern edge of the Shasta Cascade
Shasta Cascade
The Shasta Cascade region of California is located in the northeastern and north-central sections of the state bordering Oregon and Nevada, including far northern parts of the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The area is centered on Mount Shasta in the California Cascade Range,...

 area of Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

, Yreka sees many tourists. The core of the historic downtown, along West Miner Street, is listed as an historic district on 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...

. Yreka is home to the Siskiyou County Museum, and to a number of Gold Rush-era monuments and parks. Visitors also come to enjoy trout fishing in the nearby Klamath
Klamath River
The Klamath River is an American river that flows southwest through Oregon and northern California, cutting through the Cascade Range to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The river drains an extensive watershed of almost that stretches from the high desert country of the Great Basin to the temperate...

, Sacramento
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...

 and McCloud
McCloud River
The McCloud River is a river that flows east of and parallel to the Sacramento River, long, in northern California in the United States. It drains a scenic mountainous area of the Cascade Range north of Redding...

 Rivers, or come to see and climb Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...

, Castle Crags or the Trinity Alps
Trinity Alps
The Trinity Alps are mountains in Northern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located to the northwest of Redding. Elevations there range from to at Thompson Peak. The Trinity Alps Wilderness covers , making it the second largest wilderness area in California...

. Visitors also engage in nearby skiing (both alpine and cross-country), or bike or hike to the waterfalls, streams and lakes in the area, including nearby Falls of the McCloud River, Burney Falls
Burney Falls
Burney Falls is a waterfall on Burney Creek, in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta County, California.The water comes from underground springs above and at the falls, which are 129 feet high, and provides an almost constant flow rate of 100 million US gallons per day , even during...

, Mossbrae Falls
Mossbrae Falls
Mossbrae Falls is a waterfall flowing into the Sacramento River, in the Shasta Cascade area in Dunsmuir, California. The falls are accessible via a mile-long hiking trail along the Union Pacific Railroad, which begins at the Shasta Retreat on Scarlett Way in Dunsmuir. Mossbrae Falls is one...

, Lake Siskiyou
Lake Siskiyou
Lake Siskiyou is a reservoir formed by Box Canyon Dam on the Sacramento River, in far northern California, near the town of Mount Shasta, California. It is the site of local recreation, as well as being used for watershed protection and flood control....

, Castle Lake
Castle Lake (California)
Castle Lake is a glacial lake located in northern California along the eastern edge of the Klamath Mountains, in Siskiyou County, near the city of Mount Shasta. The outlet of the lake drains into Castle Lake Creek, and then into Lake Siskiyou; the lake is part of the headwaters of the Sacramento...

 and Shasta Lake
Shasta Lake
Shasta Lake, also called Lake Shasta, is an artificial lake created by the construction of Shasta Dam across the Sacramento River in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest of Shasta County, California...

. In addition, because of its status as the county seat of Siskiyou County, there are a number of businesses related to the County courts, County Recorder, and other official county functions.

Geography

Yreka is located at 41°43′36"N 122°38′15"W (41.726617, -122.637568).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United 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 city has a total area of 10.1 sq mi (26.2 km²). 10 square miles (25.9 km²) is land, and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) (0.72%) is water.

The elevation of Yreka is approximately 2500 feet (762 m) above sea level. It is nestled in the Shasta Valley south of the Siskiyou Mountains
Siskiyou Mountains
The Siskiyou Mountains are a coastal mountain range in the northern Klamath Mountains in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States. They extend in an arc for approximately from east of Crescent City, California northeast along the north side of the Klamath River into...

 and north of Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...

, a dormant volcano towering above the valley at just over 14000 ft (4,267.2 m) above sea level.

Climate

Demographics

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Yreka had a population of 7,765. The population density
Population 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 772.5 people per square mile (298.2/km²). The racial makeup of Yreka was 6,495 (83.6%) White, 57 (0.7%) African American, 491 (6.3%) Native American, 94 (1.2%) Asian, 9 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 168 (2.2%) 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 451 (5.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 753 persons (9.7%).

The Census reported that 7,718 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 33 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 14 (0.2%) were institutionalized.

There were 3,394 households, out of which 983 (29.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,338 (39.4%) 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, 471 (13.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 160 (4.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 269 (7.9%) 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 17 (0.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,202 households (35.4%) were made up of individuals and 636 (18.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27. There were 1,969 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...

 (58.0% of all households); the average family size was 2.92.

The population was spread out with 1,871 people (24.1%) under the age of 18, 678 people (8.7%) aged 18 to 24, 1,603 people (20.6%) aged 25 to 44, 2,119 people (27.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,494 people (19.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.7 years. For every 100 females there were 89.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males.

There were 3,675 housing units at an average density of 365.6 per square mile (141.2/km²), of which 1,751 (51.6%) were owner-occupied, and 1,643 (48.4%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.7%. 3,895 people (50.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 3,823 people (49.2%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 7,290 people, 3,114 households, and 1,880 families residing in the city. The population density
Population 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 730.8 per square mile (282.0/km2). There were 3,303 housing units at an average density of 331.1 per square mile (127.8/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.6% White, 0.5% African American, 6.0% Native American, 1.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.7% 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 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 5.4% of the population.

There were 3,114 households, out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% were 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, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females, age 18 and over, there were 83.9 males.

The median income
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...

 for a household in the city was $27,398, and the median income for a family was $37,448. Males had a median income of $31,632 versus $23,986 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $16,664. About 17.5% of families and 21.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.6% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

In the state legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...

 Yreka is located in the 4th Senate
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...

 District, represented by Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Doug LaMalfa
Doug LaMalfa
Doug LaMalfa is an American politician currently serving in the California State Senate. He is a Republican representing the 4th district, encompassing Del Norte, Siskiyou, Shasta, Trinity, Tehama, Butte, Glenn, Colusa, Sutter, and Yuba counties, as well as parts of Nevada and Placer counties...

, and in the 2nd Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 District, represented by Republican Jim Nielsen
Jim Nielsen
James Wiley Nielsen is an American politician from California and a member of the Republican party. Nielsen served on the Yolo County Republican Committee before winning election to the California State Senate in 1978...

. Federally, Yreka is located in California's 2nd congressional district
California's 2nd congressional district
California's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of California. The district contains much of the far northern part of the state, north of Sacramento. It is the largest district by area in California...

, which has a Cook PVI
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index , sometimes referred to as simply the Partisan Voting Index , is a measurement of how strongly an American congressional district or state leans toward one political party compared to the nation as a whole...

 of R +13 and is represented by Republican Wally Herger
Wally Herger
Walter William "Wally" Herger, Jr. , American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1987, representing the California's 2nd congressional district. The second district is physically large...

.

General information

The city is the seat of Siskiyou County and has many services that support the many small communities in the area. Yreka is also home to a branch campus of College of the Siskiyous which is home to the Rural Health Science Institute and Administration of Justice programs. The College is one of 10 California Community Colleges to offer on campus lodging. The high school buses carry students from towns that would not otherwise be able to fund a secondary education.

In Yreka, the gold-mining era is commemorated with a gold museum, as well as with a remnant of a silver mining operation in Greenhorn Park. The high school sports mascot is a gold miner. School colors are red and gold.

Trivia

  • "Yreka Bakery" is a popular palindrome
    Palindrome
    A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....

    . The loss of the “B” in a sign read from the reverse is mentioned as a possible source of the name Yreka in Mark Twain’s autobiography. The original Yreka Bakery was founded in 1856 by baker Frederick Deng. The palindrome
    Palindrome
    A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....

     was recognized early on: “spell Yreka Bakery backwards and you will know where to get a good loaf of bread” is quoted as an ad in the Yreka “Semi-Weekly Journal” May 23, 1863. Twelve loaves sold for $1. The Yreka Bakery moved eventually to its long-time location, 322 W. Miner St., where it remained under several ownerships until it closed in 1965 on retirement of the baker "Martin", and clerk Alta Hudson. Another Yreka Bakery reopened in a different location in 1974, but is no longer in business. Author Martin Gardner
    Martin Gardner
    Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...

     mentioned that Yreka Bakery was in business on West Miner Street in Yreka, but it was pointed out by readers "the Yreka Bakery no longer existed. In 1970 the original premises were occupied by the art store Yrella Gallery, also a palindrome
    Palindrome
    A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction, with general allowances for adjustments to punctuation and word dividers....

    ", which was owned and operated by Yreka resident B'Ann Dunlap. The historic building, the Brown-Nickell-Authenrieth Building, 322-324 W. Miner St., currently houses a restaurant.

  • Yreka is mentioned in Ann Rule
    Ann Rule
    Ann Rule is an American true crime writer.-Personal life:Ann Rule was born on October 22, 1935 in Lowell, Michigan to Chester R. "Stack" Stackhouse and Sophie Hansen. Her mother was a school teacher, specializing in developmentally disabled children and her father was a basketball, football and...

    's true crime
    True crime
    True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...

     novel, "The I-5 Killer".
  • The official city flower of Yreka is the Yreka Phlox.

Lynchings

There have been two documented lynchings in the town of Yreka. The first took place on August 26, 1895, when four men – William Null, Garland Stemler, Luis Moreno, and Lawrence Johnson – were simultaneously hanged by a lynch mob from a railroad tie suspended from two adjacent trees. The four men were all awaiting trial for various charges of murder and robbery.

Yreka's second lynching took place in August 1935. At the funeral of Dunsmuir, California Chief of Police, F. R. Daw, a number of mourners planned the lynching of his alleged murderer, Clyde Johnson. Early on the morning of August 3, 1935, the masked mob, estimated as large as fifty, forcibly removed Johnson from his jail cell and dragged him three miles (5 km) south of town where they hanged him from a pine tree. Local and state officials expressed mixed reaction to news of the lynching.

District Attorney James Davis declared that he would open an investigation and "do everything the law requires to apprehend members of the mob." On the other hand, the California Attorney General, referring to the recently delayed execution of an accused murderer, stated that the "uncontrollable unrest" was a natural result of the "apathy of the Supreme Court of the United States."

External links

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