Georgetown, California

History

Founded August 7, 1849, by George Phipps and party, Georgetown was nicknamed "Growlersburg" due to the heavy, gold-laden quartz rocks that "growled" in the miners' pants as they walked around town. Georgetown is named for George Washington. The first post office was established in 1851.

After a disastrous fire in 1852, the old town was moved from the canyon in lower Main Street to its present site, and, unique in early-day planning, Main Street was laid out 100 ft wide, with side streets 60 ft. After this new reconstruction, the residents of the city proclaimed their town as the "Pride of the Mountains".

The hub of an immensely rich gold mining area, Georgetown had a population of about three thousand from 1854 to 1856. As a gold rush camp, the community outlasted many other towns, because the gold found nearby was solid primary deposits, as opposed to placer deposits. Gold production continued until after the turn of the 20th century.

During the Civil War the people of the town wanted to show their support for the Union. They raised the Stars and Stripes with the inscription "Justice and Equality" on July 4, 1861.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 15.1 sqmi, of which over 99% is land.

For the 2000 census, the CDP's area was smaller. It had a total area of 4.1 sqmi, of which 4.1 sqmi was land and 0.24% was water.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Georgetown has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. Due to orographic lifting, Georgetown gets about four times the amount of precipitation as the western valley locations. A small amount of it falls as snow that melts quickly due to the above freezing temperatures, but for no more than four inches a year. The high precipitation allows for vegetation to flourish, but when a lot of it becomes dry during the hot and dry summers, wildfires become a prominent risk.

|Jan record high F = 76 |Feb record high F = 78 |Mar record high F = 88 |Apr record high F = 88 |May record high F = 101 |Jun record high F = 104 |Jul record high F = 107 |Aug record high F = 106 |Sep record high F = 111 |Oct record high F = 100 |Nov record high F = 84 |Dec record high F = 79

|Jan avg record high F = 66 |Feb avg record high F = 69 |Mar avg record high F = 72 |Apr avg record high F = 80 |May avg record high F = 87 |Jun avg record high F = 96 |Jul avg record high F = 99 |Aug avg record high F = 100 |Sep avg record high F = 97 |Oct avg record high F = 88 |Nov avg record high F = 75 |Dec avg record high F = 64 |year avg record high F =

|Jan avg record low F = 24 |Feb avg record low F = 26 |Mar avg record low F = 27 |Apr avg record low F = 30 |May avg record low F = 35 |Jun avg record low F = 41 |Jul avg record low F = 50 |Aug avg record low F = 50 |Sep avg record low F = 43 |Oct avg record low F = 35 |Nov avg record low F = 28 |Dec avg record low F = 25 |year avg record low F = 21

|Jan record low F = 11 |Feb record low F = 15 |Mar record low F = 15 |Apr record low F = 19 |May record low F = 26 |Jun record low F = 31 |Jul record low F = 39 |Aug record low F = 39 |Sep record low F = 31 |Oct record low F = 23 |Nov record low F = 21 |Dec record low F = 9

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1860–1870 1880-1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Georgetown first appeared as a census designated place in the 2000 U.S. census.

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Georgetown had a population of 2,255. The population density was 149.1 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Georgetown was 81.6% White, 1.8% African American, 1.7% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.5% from other races, and 10.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.3% of the population.

The census reported that 95.0% of the population lived in households, 0.5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 4.5% were institutionalized.

There were 874 households, out of which 23.1% included children under the age of 18, 53.0% were married-couple households, 8.8% were cohabiting couple households, 20.4% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.8% had a male householder with no partner present. 22.7% of households were one person, and 12.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.45.

The age distribution was 17.9% under the age of 18, 5.1% aged 18 to 24, 20.8% aged 25 to 44, 30.0% aged 45 to 64, and 26.3% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 50.4years. For every 100 females, there were 111.9 males.

There were 1,028 housing units at an average density of 68.0 /mi2, of which 874 (85.0%) were occupied. Of these, 79.4% were owner-occupied, and 20.6% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 43.0% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 24.5% spoke only English at home, 74.0% spoke Spanish, 1.2% spoke other Indo-European languages, 0.1% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.2% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 60.5% were high school graduates and 8.8% had a bachelor's degree.

The median household income was $63,082, and the per capita income was $22,985. About 14.8% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line.

Politics

In the state legislature, Georgetown is in ,{{Cite web |access-date=September 15, 2025 |access-date=September 15, 2025

Federally, Georgetown is in .

Education

The Black Oak Mine Unified School District, headquartered in Georgetown, serves Georgetown.

Notable people

• Ferris Fain

References

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
2. "US Census Bureau".
3. {{GNIS. 1658606
4. Varney, Philip. (2001). "Ghost Towns of Northern California". Voyageur Press.
5. "Georgetown CDP, California - Census Bureau Profile". United States Census Bureau.
6. {{cite ohp. 484. Georgetown. 2012-10-07
7. https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/listedresources/Detail/484 {{Bare URL inline. (August 2025)
8. Gannett, Henry. (1905). "The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States". Govt. Print. Off..
9. {{California's Geographic Names. 490
10. ''Mountain Democrat'', 6 July 1861
11. [http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=483340&cityname=Georgetown%2C+California%2C+United+States+of+America&units= Climate Summary for Georgetown, California]
12. "Georgetown, CA Climate Summary".
13. "Decennial Census by Decade".
14. "1870 Census of Population - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties - California - Almeda County to Sutter County".
15. "1870 Census of Population - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties - California - Tehama County to Yuba County".
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23. "1960 Census of Population - General population Characteristics - California".
24. "1970 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
25. "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
26. "1990 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
27. "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
28. "2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
29. "Georgetown CDP, California; DP1: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
30. "Georgetown CDP, California; P16: Household Type - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
31. "Garnet CDP, California; CP02: Comparative Social Characteristics in the United States - 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates Comparison Profiles".
32. "Garnet CDP, California; DP03: Selected Economic Characteristics - 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates Comparison Profiles".
33. {{Cite GovTrack. CA. 3
34. "[http://bomusd.k12.ca.us/home.aspx Welcome to the Black Oak Mine Unified School District] {{webarchive. link. (February 12, 2010 ." Black Oak Mine Unified School District. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.)
35. [https://web.archive.org/web/20020720053401/http://www.bomusd.k12.ca.us/ Home page]. Black Oak Mine Unified School District. July 20, 2002. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.