Folsom, California

History

The Nisenan tribe of Native Americans had long inhabited the area. The Gold Rush of 1849 brought violence, disease and overwhelming loss for the tribes.

Joseph Libbey Folsom purchased Rancho Rio de los Americanos from the heirs of San Francisco merchant William Alexander Leidesdorff, and laid out the town called Granite City, mostly occupied by gold miners seeking their fortune in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Though few amassed a great deal of wealth, the city prospered due to Joseph Folsom's lobbying to get a railway to connect the town with Sacramento. Joseph died in 1855, and Granite City was later renamed Folsom in his honor. The railway was abandoned in the 1980s but opened up as the terminus of the Gold Line of Sacramento Regional Transit District's light rail service in 2005. A few former gold-rush era towns are located in and around Folsom, including Prairie City, Salmon Falls, and Mormon Island.

Folsom included a significant Chinese American community when it was first incorporated, but arsonists burned Folsom's Chinatown in March 1886, driving Chinese Americans out of town.

The establishment of Folsom Prison came in 1880, when the Livermore family made an agreement with the state to donate land for the prison in exchange for prison labor. They planned to build a hydro-electric dam from the American River for a sawmill. Though the sawmill did not work out, the Livermores soon realized that the natural force of running water could provide enough power to transmit to Sacramento, and the Folsom Powerhouse, now a National Historic Landmark, was opened. At the time it was opened, it had the longest overhead run of electricity (22 miles) in the country. The powerhouse operated until 1952.

Folsom Dam was built in 1956, providing flood control and water rights for the Sacramento Valley and created Folsom Lake. The dam is located on the southwest corner of the lake. The lake is an estimated 4.8 mi from Granite Bay to the most southern point of Folsom Lake.

Folsom is home to Folsom Lake College, Folsom High School, Vista del Lago High School and a historic downtown district. Folsom is also home to the largest private employer in the Sacramento area, Intel.

The Folsom Plan Area allows the construction of 11,000 homes resulting in 25,000 additional residents enlarging the city of Folsom by one-third. The planned community development area of 3,250 acres south of Highway 50 includes additional housing, schools and parks along with office and commercial buildings.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.2 sqmi, of which, 27.9 sqmi of it is land and 2.3 sqmi of it (7.53%) is water. Folsom is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Carpenter Hill in Folsom has the highest elevation in Sacramento County, at 831 feet (253 meters).

Climate

Folsom's climate is characterized by long, hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters.

Demographics

Folsom is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area.

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Folsom had a population of 80,454. The population density was 2,885.6 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Folsom was 58.7% White, 4.2% African American, 0.5% Native American, 19.7% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 5.4% from other races, and 11.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.1% of the population.

The census reported that 92.5% of the population lived in households, 0.3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 7.2% were institutionalized.

There were 28,336 households, out of which 36.9% included children under the age of 18, 58.0% were married-couple households, 4.7% were cohabiting couple households, 23.3% had a female householder with no partner present, and 13.9% had a male householder with no partner present. 22.8% of households were one person, and 10.1% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.63.

The age distribution was 22.2% under the age of 18, 7.4% aged 18 to 24, 27.2% aged 25 to 44, 28.8% aged 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 40.5years. For every 100 females, there were 106.7 males.

There were 29,574 housing units at an average density of 1,060.7 /mi2, of which 28,336 (95.8%) were occupied. Of these, 68.0% were owner-occupied, and 32.0% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 19.2% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 75.3% spoke only English at home, 5.8% spoke Spanish, 7.9% spoke other Indo-European languages, 9.4% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 1.5% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 94.6% were high school graduates and 54.7% had a bachelor's degree.

The median household income was $139,263, and the per capita income was $61,008. About 3.3% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 census Folsom had a population of 72,203. The population density was 2,971.2 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Folsom was 53,627 (74.3%) White, 4,140 (5.7%) African American, 427 (0.6%) Native American, 9,000 (12.5%) Asian, 173 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 1,818 (2.5%) from other races, and 3,018 (4.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8,064 persons (11.2%).

The census reported that 65,243 people (90.4% of the population) lived in households, 188 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 6,772 (9.4%) were institutionalized.

There were 24,951 households, 9,796 (39.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 14,399 (57.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,195 (8.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,006 (4.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,150 (4.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 137 (0.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 5,788 households (23.2%) were one person and 1,930 (7.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.61. There were 17,600 families (70.5% of households); the average family size was 3.13.

The age distribution was 17,570 people (24.3%) under the age of 18, 5,344 people (7.4%) aged 18 to 24, 23,022 people (31.9%) aged 25 to 44, 19,358 people (26.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 6,909 people (9.6%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 37.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 114.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.9 males.

There were 26,109 housing units at an average density of 1,074.4 per square mile, of the occupied units 17,442 (69.9%) were owner-occupied and 7,509 (30.1%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%. 47,982 people (66.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 17,261 people (23.9%) lived in rental housing units.

Economy

Top employers

According to the city's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

The total Folsom labor force is 35,500, approximately 59.6% of the total adult population asset of around 59,740.

Arts and culture

The city operates the Folsom Public Library, located in the Georgia Murray Building.

Parks and recreation

Livermore Community Park is located in Folsom and offers sports facilities and a water park. Folsom also boasts over fifty miles of trails, including the Humbug-Willow Creek Trail, Folsom Parkway Rail Trail, Lake Natoma Trail, and Oak Parkway Trail. The 32-mile American River Bike Trail, which starts in Sacramento, runs through Folsom along Lake Natoma. Bridges located in Folsom include Lake Natoma Crossing, the Rainbow Bridge, the Historic Truss Bridge, and Folsom Lake Crossing. There is also a pedestrian bridge over East Bidwell Street that opened on November 6, 2010, as part of a new segment on the Humbug-Willow Creek Trail. Another bridge was built over Folsom Lake Crossing in 2014 as part of the Johnny Cash Trail, a public art experience and bike trail honoring the singer Johnny Cash, which was opened on October 14, 2017.

Folsom also includes part of the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, which is popular for hiking, boating, fishing, and biking, and a major attraction in the Sacramento region.

Government

In the California State Legislature, Folsom is in , and in .

Located within California's 3rd congressional district, Folsom is represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Republican Kevin Kiley.

Education

Folsom Lake College is a public community college which is part of the Los Rios Community College District.

Folsom Cordova Unified School District operates public schools in Folsom and Rancho Cordova. The two high schools are Folsom High School and Vista del Lago High School. The two middle schools are Folsom Middle School and Sutter Middle School.

Infrastructure

The Sacramento Regional Transit District extended the light rail train system to Folsom via an extension to the Gold Line in October 2005, providing direct service to Downtown Sacramento. Regional Transit also operates the Folsom Stage Line, a public bus service within the city of Folsom.

In February 2020, 75 project customers, including the City of Folsom, received permanent federal water contracts for the Central Valley Project.

Notable people==

• Britani Bateman – actress, singer, and cast member on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City
• Shadrack Biwott – American long-distance runner
• Jake Browning – Cincinnati Bengals quarterback
• Peter Camejo – Green Party activist
• McKenzie Forbes – WNBA player for the Los Angeles Sparks
• Spider Jorgensen – Major League Baseball player
• Aspen Ladd – MMA fighter currently fighting in UFC
• Brennan Poole – NASCAR driver
• Jordan Richards – free agent safety
• Jonah Williams – Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman

In popular culture

The song "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash is about Folsom State Prison.

The 2025 film No Address (film) included several scenes filmed on location in Folsom.

Sister cities

• ITA Crespano del Grappa, Italy
• PRC Jiaohe City, China

References

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