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California State...
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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. |
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Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Ukiah
Year Organized: 1850
Square Miles: 3,509 |
Court House: 501 Low Gap Road
County Courthouse
Ukiah, CA 95482-3734
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
The county derived its name from Cape Mendocino, which was
probably named in honor of either Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain,
1535-1542 (who sent the Juan Cabrillo Expedition to this coast in 1542), or
Lorenzo Suarez de Mendoza, Viceroy from 1580 to 1583. Mendocino is an adjective
form of the family name of Mendoza.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick
Facts
History
Mendocino County was one of California's original 27 counties, created in 1850 by the State Legislature. Because of
its small population, Mendocino County was administered by the government of Sonoma County until 1859, when the
government was established in a small building on Main Street in Ukiah. County officials moved into the first courthouse
at the site bounded by Standley, Perkins, State and Schools streets on January 24, 1860.
Mendocino County derives its name from Cape Mendocino, which lies northward of its northern boundary. Cape Mendocino was
given its name by a famous Spanish navigator of the 16th century, Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo. Cabrillo discovered it in
1542 while on a voyage of discovery along the Pacific Coast and named it in honor of Don Antonio de Mendoza, the first
Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico), and the patron of the voyageur.
The first permanent Spanish settlers came to the area in the middle 16th century. It was almost 300 years before the
first permanent non-Spanish settlements in the county were made on the coast north of Big River in April of 1852.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 3,878 square miles (10,044 kmē),
of which, 3,509 square miles (9,088 kmē) of it is land and 369 square miles (956 kmē) of it (9.52%) is
water.
Neighboring Counties:
- North: Trinity County
- Northeast: Tehama County
- East: Glenn County
- Southeast: Lake County; Sonoma County
- West: North Pacific Ocean
- Northwest: Humboldt County
Cities and Towns:
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- Fort Bragg |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Point Arena |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Ukiah
(County Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Willits |
city |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our 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." |
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