Felton, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Felton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 1,051 at the 2000 census.

Downtown Felton, California.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History and facts
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Felton is located at 37°3′5″N, 122°3′21″W (37.051498, -122.055753)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,051 people, 393 households, and 255 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 436.3/km² (1,133.0/mi²). There were 517 housing units at an average density of 214.6/km² (557.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.58% White, 0.67% African American, 0.57% Native American, 1.43% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 3.33% from other races, and 3.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.14% of the population.

There were 393 households out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 104.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.4 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $48,102, and the median income for a family was $55,625. Males had a median income of $35,833 versus $26,346 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $21,488. About 8.3% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.0% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History and facts

Felton is home to Roaring Camp, a recreation of an 1880s logging camp and home to the original South Pacific Coast (later Southern Pacific) Felton depot and freight shed. Roaring Camp is home to two unique railroads; the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad (a steam-powered line up Bear Mountain) and the Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway. The railroads, limekilns and forest in this area provided a majority of the repair materials for the great San Francisco earthquake. Nearby Mount Hermon was also the site of California's first water-powered sawmill (circa 1841).

Felton is a historic logging town and served as the end of the Boulder Creek log flume. In 1875, the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad rolled into town. In 1880, a second rail line came down from Alameda and San Jose. A new depot was constructed at "New Felton" using salvaged materials from a dismantled portion of the Boulder Creek flume. The "broad gauge" came into Felton by 1909. In 1963, the steam-powered Roaring Camp & Big Trees tourist railroad began operations on the Big Trees Ranch out of the old Felton depot. They later constructed a replicated logging camp and another depot further down the property, and in 1985, took over operations on the old SPC/Southern Pacific line to Santa Cruz.