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California Counties

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California Counties

The U.S. state of California is divided into fifty-eight counties. On January 4, 1850, the California constitutional committee recommended the formation of 18 counties. They were Benicia, Butte, Fremont, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Monterey, Mount Diablo, Oro, Redding, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Sutter. On April 22, the Counties of Branciforte, Calaveras, Coloma, Colusi, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Trinity, and Yuba were added. Benicia was renamed Solano, Coloma to El Dorado, Fremont to Yola, Mt. Diablo to Contra Costa, San Jose to Santa Clara, Oro to Tuolumne, and Redding to Shasta. One of the first state legislative acts regarding Counties was to rename Branciforte County to Santa Cruz, Colusi to Colusa, and Yola to Yolo.

The last California county to have been established is Imperial County in 1907.

Los Angeles County, California

Los Angeles County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Los Angeles
Year Organized: 1850
Square Miles: 4,060

Court House:

500 W. Temple Street
Hall of Administration
Los Angeles, CA 90012-2713

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The words los angeles literally mean "the angels" and are a contraction of the original name Pueblo del Rio de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula (the Town of the River of Our Lady, Queen of the Angeles). In 1781, Governor Felipe de Neve issued orders for the establishment of the pueblo on El Rio Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles. The pueblo in time became known as the Ciudad de Los Angeles (City of the Angels), and it is from this contraction that the present name is derived.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Los Angeles County was one of the original counties of California, created at the time of statehood in 1850. Parts of the county's territory were given to San Bernardino County in 1853, to Kern County in 1866 and to Orange County in 1889.

INCORPORATION

On Feb. 18, 1850, the County of Los Angeles was established as one of the 27 original counties, several months before California was admitted to the Union. The people of Los Angeles County on April 1, 1850 asserted their newly won right of self-government and elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first governing body. A total of 377 votes were cast in this election. In 1852 the Legislature dissolved the Court of Sessions and created a five-member Board of Supervisors. In 1913 the citizens of Los Angeles County approved a charter recommended by a board of freeholders which gave the County greater freedom to govern itself within the framework of state law.

Soon thereafter Los Angeles, which had been designated as the official “seat” of County government, was incorporated as a city. It had a reputation as one of the toughest towns in the West. "A murder a day" only slightly exaggerated the town's crime problems, and suspected criminals were often hanged by vigilante groups. Lawlessness reached a peak in 1871, when, after a Chinese immigrant accidentally killed a white man, an angry mob stormed into the Chinatown district, murdering 16 people. After that, civic leaders and concerned citizens began a successful campaign to bring law and order to the town.

More at History of Los Angeles County

Geography

With 4,061 square miles (10,517 km²), Los Angeles County borders 70 miles (110 km) of coast on the Pacific Ocean and encompasses numerous other natural landscapes including towering mountain ranges, deep valleys, forests, islands, lakes, rivers, and desert. More specifically, the county contains the following rivers: Los Angeles River, Rio Hondo, the San Gabriel River and the Santa Clara River. The primary mountain ranges are the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains. It also includes the westernmost part of the Mojave Desert, and San Clemente Island and Santa Catalina Island in the Pacific Ocean.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: San Bernardino County
Southeast: Orange County
Southwest: North Pacific Ocean
West: Ventura County
Northwest: Kern County

Cities and Towns:

- Agoura Hills	city	Incorporated Area
- Alhambra	city	Incorporated Area
- Arcadia	city	Incorporated Area
- Artesia	city	Incorporated Area
- Avalon	city	Incorporated Area
- Azusa	city	Incorporated Area
- Baldwin Park	city	Incorporated Area
- Bell	city	Incorporated Area
- Bell Gardens	city	Incorporated Area
- Bellflower	city	Incorporated Area
- Beverly Hills	city	Incorporated Area
- Bradbury	city	Incorporated Area
- Brentwood	city	Incorporated Area
- Burbank	city	Incorporated Area
- Calabasas	city	Incorporated Area
- Carson	city	Incorporated Area
- Cerritos	city	Incorporated Area
- Claremont	city	Incorporated Area
- Commerce	city	Incorporated Area
- Compton	city	Incorporated Area
- Covina	city	Incorporated Area
- Cudahy	city	Incorporated Area
- Culver City	city	Incorporated Area
- Diamond Bar	city	Incorporated Area
- Downey	city	Incorporated Area
- Duarte	city	Incorporated Area
- El Monte	city	Incorporated Area
- El Segundo	city	Incorporated Area
- Gardena	city	Incorporated Area
- Glendale	city	Incorporated Area
- Glendora	city	Incorporated Area
- Hawaiian Gardens	city	Incorporated Area
- Hawthorne	city	Incorporated Area
- Hermosa Beach	city	Incorporated Area
- Hidden Hills	city	Incorporated Area
- Huntington Park	city	Incorporated Area
- Industry	city	Incorporated Area
- Inglewood	city	Incorporated Area
- Irwindale	city	Incorporated Area
- La Canada Flintridge	city	Incorporated Area
- La Mirada	city	Incorporated Area
- La Puente	city	Incorporated Area
- La Verne	city	Incorporated Area
- Lakewood	city	Incorporated Area
- Lancaster	city	Incorporated Area
- Lawndale	city	Incorporated Area
- Lomita	city	Incorporated Area
- Long Beach	city	Incorporated Area
- Los Angeles (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Lynwood	city	Incorporated Area
- Malibu	city	Incorporated Area
- Manhattan Beach	city	Incorporated Area
- Maywood	city	Incorporated Area
- Monrovia	city	Incorporated Area
- Montebello	city	Incorporated Area
- Monterey Park	city	Incorporated Area
- Norwalk	city	Incorporated Area
- Palmdale	city	Incorporated Area
- Palos Verdes Estates	city	Incorporated Area
- Paramount	city	Incorporated Area
- Pasadena	city	Incorporated Area
- Pico Rivera	city	Incorporated Area
- Pomona	city	Incorporated Area
- Rancho Palos Verdes	city	Incorporated Area
- Redondo Beach	city	Incorporated Area
- Rolling Hills	city	Incorporated Area
- Rolling Hills Estates	city	Incorporated Area
- Rosemead	city	Incorporated Area
- San Dimas	city	Incorporated Area
- San Fernando	city	Incorporated Area
- San Gabriel	city	Incorporated Area
- San Marino	city	Incorporated Area
- Santa Clarita	city	Incorporated Area
- Santa FE Springs	city	Incorporated Area
- Santa Monica	city	Incorporated Area
- Sierra Madre	city	Incorporated Area
- Signal Hill	city	Incorporated Area
- South El Monte	city	Incorporated Area
- South Gate	city	Incorporated Area
- South Pasadena	city	Incorporated Area
- Temple City	city	Incorporated Area
- Thousand Oaks	city	Incorporated Area
- Torrance	city	Incorporated Area
- Vernon	city	Incorporated Area
- Walnut	city	Incorporated Area
- West Covina	city	Incorporated Area
- West Hollywood	city	Incorporated Area
- Westlake Village	city	Incorporated Area
- Whittier	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."