Fort Dick, California

Etymology

Fort Dick Landing dates back to the Civil War era and was named after a settler's log house "fort" built by Whites to defend from the Indians.{{cite book

History

Pre-Settler contact

The heavily forested coast territory surrounding Fort Dick was occupied and used by the Tolowa and Yurok tribes of Native Americans.

Jedediah Smith's party reaches Lake Earl

Historical records state that a party travelling with Jedediah Smith entered the area of Fort Dick and skirted the eastern edge of Lake Earl between June 14 to 16, 1828.{{cite book

The company rode out early on the 16th. Striking to the north northwest, they crossed a neck of land skirting the ocean. Considerable difficulty was encountered in getting the horses across Elk Creek, and they were compelled 'to make a pen on the bank to force them across.' The Mountain Men on the 16th camped on the wooded flats south of Lake Earl. Skirting the eastern margin of Lake Earl, the trappers camped three nights in Section 27, between the lake and Kings Valley." |}}

The camp site of June 14 was on Elk Creek, one-fourth of a mile west of the junction of U.S. 101 and the Elk Valley road. Exactly one month later, while eating breakfast the morning of July 14, 1828, Jedediah's party was attacked by at least one hundred Native American Indians. Everyone in the party except for Jedediah and two companions died in the ambush. They escaped and headed directly to Fort Vancouver.

Shipwrecks near Fort Dick and Crescent City

The coastal waters near Crescent City and north are notoriously treacherous. Over the years, there have been many ships sunk in the ocean close to Fort Dick and Crescent City.

• 1850 - Paragon sunk
• 1851 - Tarquin
• 1855 - Steamer America burned in the harbor at Crescent City en route to Oregon and Washington{{cite book
• 1865 - The Steamer Brother Jonathan hit an uncharted reef near Point St. George.
• 1941 - SS Emidio, an oil tanker, was shelled and torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. This was the first ship sunk by the Japanese off the American Pacific coast in World War II.{{cite book

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1850–1870 1880-1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Fort Dick first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2020 United States census.

The 2020 United States census reported that Fort Dick had a population of 912. The population density was 283.5 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Fort Dick was 677 (74.2%) White, 1 (0.1%) African American, 103 (11.3%) Native American, 12 (1.3%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 34 (3.7%) from other races, and 85 (9.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 73 persons (8.0%).

The whole population lived in households. There were 357 households, out of which 71 (19.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 185 (51.8%) were married-couple households, 32 (9.0%) were cohabiting couple households, 60 (16.8%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 80 (22.4%) had a male householder with no partner present. 92 households (25.8%) were one person, and 48 (13.4%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.55.

The age distribution was 185 people (20.3%) under the age of 18, 44 people (4.8%) aged 18 to 24, 216 people (23.7%) aged 25 to 44, 256 people (28.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 211 people (23.1%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 46.0years. For every 100 females, there were 91.6 males.

There were 393 housing units at an average density of 122.2 /mi2, of which 357 (90.8%) were occupied. Of these, 291 (81.5%) were owner-occupied, and 66 (18.5%) were occupied by renters.

Government

Fort Dick has very few autonomous governmental services and is largely under the rule of Del Norte County. The remainder of the unincorporated city is subject to various county, state, and federal agencies.

Education

Educational services in Fort Dick are provided by the Del Norte County Unified School District, in conjunction with the Del Norte County Office of Education. At 1008 sqmi, with over 4000 students, they accomplish this by utilizing an elaborate public school busing network. The many district buses service eleven schools: eight elementary, one middle school, one high school, and one alternative high school. Fort Dick is the home to only one of the district's eight elementary schools. Redwood Elementary is equipped to educate students from the K to 8th grades. The school has a student population of 425 students, with a 21.8 student to teacher ratio. People living in Fort Dick must use education facilities in neighboring Crescent City for anything higher than the elementary school level.

Climate

This region experiences mild and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Fort Dick has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb).

|Jan dew point F = 41.2 |Feb dew point F = 41.8 |Mar dew point F = 43.0 |Apr dew point F = 44.4 |May dew point F = 47.3 |Jun dew point F = 50.3 |Jul dew point F = 53.1 |Aug dew point F = 53.6 |Sep dew point F = 50.8 |Oct dew point F = 47.8 |Nov dew point F = 44.6 |Dec dew point F = 40.9 |year dew point F =

References

References

1. [http://www.weeyadvn.com/userfiles/Dee-ni-wee-ya-1-textbook..pdf Wee-ya’-dvn: Tolowa Dee-ni’ Language Resource Center - Dee-ni' Wee-ya' Lhetlh-xat 1]
2. Durham, David L.. (November 2000). "California North Coast: Del Norte, Humbolt, Lake, Mendocino & Trinity Counties". Word Dancer Press.
3. {{California's Geographic Names. 61
4. (2012). "History and Heritage". Crescent City/Del Norte County Visitors Bureau.
5. "Decennial Census by Decade".
6. "1870 Census of Population - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties - California - Almeda County to Sutter County".
7. "1870 Census of Population - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties - California - Tehama County to Yuba County".
8. "1890 Census of Population - Population of California by Minor Civil Divisions".
9. "1900 Census of Population - Population of California by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions".
10. "1910 Census of Population - Supplement for California".
11. "1920 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
12. "1930 Census of Population - Number and Distribution of Inhabitants - California".
13. "1940 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
14. "1950 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
15. "1960 Census of Population - General population Characteristics - California".
16. "1970 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
17. "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
18. "1990 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
19. "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
20. "2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
21. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Fort Dick CDP, California".
22. "Fort Dick CDP, California; DP1: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
23. "Fort Dick CDP, California; P16: Household Type - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
24. "DNCUSD Schools".
25. "ZIP code : 95538".