e-RD Logo
Google
Custom Search
 
e-ReferenceDesk's College and 50 State Learning Resource Guide
 
 

Find Online Colleges

Find Campus Colleges

California State...
California Landscape
California
  • Almanac
  • Economy
  • Geography
  • Facts
  • History
  • Motto
  • People
  • Timeline
  • Name
  • Counties
  • Symbols
Choose a County
Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, Yuba
California Counties
California County map
Click Image to Enlarge
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.
  • e-RD |
  • State Resources |
  • 50 States |
  • California State |
  • California Counties

Plumas County, California

Plumas County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Quincy
Year Organized: 1854
Square Miles: 2,554
Court House:

520 Main Street, Room 309
County Courthouse
Quincy, CA 95971-9115

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The Spanish originally called one of the tributaries of the Sacramento River El Rio de las Plumas or the "River of Feathers." In creating this county, the state Legislature gave it the name Plumas because all of the numerous branches of the Feather River have their origins in its mountains.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Plumas County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. The county gets its name from the Spanish words for the Feather River (Río de las Plumas), which flows through the county. The county seat is Quincy.


Prior to the California Gold Rush, the area now known as Plumas County was inhabited by the Mountain Maidu Indians.

Living in small groups, they gathered roots, berries, grasses, seeds and acorns, supplementing these staples with large and small game and fish. Their existence was suddenly disturbed in the spring of 1850 when a flood of gold-seeking miners poured into the canyons and valleys of the region in search of a fabled "Gold" Lake. Overnight, mining camps sprang to life. Rivers were turned from their beds, ditches were dug to bring water from distant sources to the diggings and the land was turned upside down.

A sizable Chinese population took up residence here and remained until the early 1900s when, with the decline in mining, most left the area.

The North, Middle and South forks of the Feather River were named in 1820 by Captain Louis Arguello as the Rio de las Plumas (River of Feathers) after the Spanish explorer saw what looked like bird feathers floating in the water.

"Plumas," the Spanish word for "feathers," later became the name for the county.

The river and its forks were the primary sites of early mining activity, with many smaller camps located on their tributaries. Over the next five decades gold mining remained the main industry of the county.

In 1850, the famous mountain man, James P. Beckwourth, discovered the lowest pass across the Sierra Nevada and the following year navigated a wagon trail for California-bound emigrants from western Nevada, through Plumas County to the Sacramento Valley.

Several years later, in March of 1854, Plumas County was formed from the eastern and largest portion of Butte County with the town of Quincy chosen as the county seat after a heated election.

In 1864, a large part of northern Plumas County was carved off to form present day Lassen County. Following this, Plumas County annexed a small portion of Sierra County which included the town of La Porte.

In the late 1850s, Greenville came into existence as a mining and farming community at the head of Indian Valley; Chester, near Lake Almanor, was born as a result of damming Big Meadows and the lumber potential from the timber stands blanketing the area.

Soon after the turn of the century, and with the construction of the Western Pacific Railroad in 1910, Portola came into existence.

With the railroad for transportation, the timber industry began to emerge as the primary economic force in the county. Until that time lumber was milled strictly for local use. Finished lumber could now be shipped nationwide from Plumas forests. The timber industry contributed enormously to the growth and prosperity of Plumas County and continues to do so to this day.

Coeval with the railroad's construction up the Feather River Canyon came some of the earliest tourists to the county. Resorts and lodges popped up at intervals along the "Feather River Route" to accommodate fishermen, hikers and sightseers.

The last passenger train ran in 1970, and the line is now devoted to freight traffic only. In 1937, the Feather River Highway, touted as an "all weather route" was completed through the Feather River Canyon from Oroville to Quincy, linking Plumas County year-round to the Sacramento Valley.

Scott J. Lawson
Plumas County
Museum Director

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,613 square miles (6,769 km²), of which, 2,554 square miles (6,614 km²) of it is land and 60 square miles (155 km²) of it (2.29%) is water.

Plumas County has numerous lakes and streams which are renowned for their fishing. Outdoor activities are a major tourist draw. A small part of Lassen Volcanic National Park extends into the northwest corner of the county.

Neighboring Counties:

  • Northeast: Lassen County
  • Southeast: Sierra County
  • Southwest: Yuba County; Butte County
  • West: Tehama County
  • Northwest: Shasta County

Cities and Towns:

- Oroville city Incorporated Area
- Portola city Incorporated Area
- Quincy (County Seat)

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources
Counties: US Map
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."
 
Google
Custom Search
About Site Map Privacy Policy
Campus-based Colleges  Online Schools  College List
Top of Page

© Copyright 2004-2011, Web Marketing Services, Inc. LLC, a Clarksville, VA company. All rights reserved.