Imperial, California

History

Imperial was created by the Imperial Land Company and was named by George Chaffey. Imperial's first post office opened in 1901. Imperial incorporated in 1904. The first mayor of Imperial was Allison Peck.

The town-site of Imperial was plotted in 1902 for home and commercial businesses. Its first buildings included a printing press, drug store, grocery store, brick building, and church. The city can also boast of having the first school in the valley and the first Chamber of Commerce.

The City of Imperial was incorporated July 12, 1904, thus being the first city in the valley to incorporate. The city was originally thought to become the county seat, but lost out to the City of El Centro in 1907.

Imperial through the years became the location for the home of the Imperial Irrigation District, the California Mid-Winter Fair and the Imperial County Airport. Also several businesses were established in the city. Imperial was devastated by earthquakes in 1916 and 1940. In 1979, Another earthquake destroyed many of the old buildings in the downtown business area, including City Hall. The city was slow to rebuild the business district following the quake, taking several years.

In June 2014, a McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma crashed in a residential area. The pilot ejected safely, and no residents were injured.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.3 sqmi, all land. Imperial is located in the Imperial Valley (considered locally as synonymous with Imperial County). The city is 59.5 feet (18.14 m) below sea level. The Imperial Valley is in the Colorado Desert, an extension of the larger Sonoran Desert.

The agriculture industry's demand for water is supplied by canals diverting water from the nearby Colorado River. The Salton Sea was created after a 1905 flood from the Colorado River.

In this region, the geology is dominated by the transition of the tectonic plate boundary from rift to transverse fault. The southernmost strands of the San Andreas Fault connect the northernmost extensions of the East Pacific Rise. Consequently, the region is subject to earthquakes, and the crust is being stretched, resulting in a sinking of the terrain over time.

Climate

Imperial has a hot desert climate, featuring long, extremely hot summers and mild winters. Imperial averages just about 3 inches of rain annually, with December being the wettest month. The North American Monsoon typically increases the humidity from July through September. At times, the climate can resemble that of tropical areas in the Caribbean. This leads to daily thunderstorms that can bring hail, downpours, lightning, and dust storms more commonly known as Haboob. During the eastern Pacific hurricane season, hurricanes occasionally track up the Baja California Peninsula and bring remnants of Tropical Storms through the desert that can result in flash flooding and heavy widespread thunderstorms. This can lead to significantly higher than normal precipitation, at times bringing heavy rain in short periods of time. The precipitation in the winter months is predominantly rain showers from the occasional winter storms. At times these storms bring cold temperatures to Imperial and surrounding cities, and mountain snowfall to the nearby mountains. Snow is almost totally unknown in the city, except for trace amount on December 12, 1932, and a very brief fall of sleet mixed with hail during a shower in December 1967. On average there are 3.7 days per year that drop below freezing. In the coldest month, December, the normal high temperature is 67.5 degrees with a low of 42.3. In the warmest month, August, the normal high temperature is 104.5 degrees with a low of 78.4.

|Jan record high F = 96 |Feb record high F = 96 |Mar record high F = 104 |Apr record high F = 109 |May record high F = 118 |Jun record high F = 123 |Jul record high F = 124 |Aug record high F = 124 |Sep record high F = 120 |Oct record high F = 111 |Nov record high F = 98 |Dec record high F = 90

|Jan avg record high F = 80.6 |Feb avg record high F = 83.9 |Mar avg record high F = 92.1 |Apr avg record high F = 99.7 |May avg record high F = 105.0 |Jun avg record high F = 112.6 |Jul avg record high F = 114.6 |Aug avg record high F = 113.6 |Sep avg record high F = 110.4 |Oct avg record high F = 101.8 |Nov avg record high F = 89.9 |Dec avg record high F = 79.1 |year avg record high F = 115.9

|Jan avg record low F = 33.4 |Feb avg record low F = 36.6 |Mar avg record low F = 41.3 |Apr avg record low F = 46.7 |May avg record low F = 53.7 |Jun avg record low F = 60.1 |Jul avg record low F = 68.1 |Aug avg record low F = 69.0 |Sep avg record low F = 62.2 |Oct avg record low F = 50.0 |Nov avg record low F = 39.0 |Dec avg record low F = 32.2 |year avg record low F = 31.0

|Jan record low F = 16 |Feb record low F = 22 |Mar record low F = 30 |Apr record low F = 35 |May record low F = 43 |Jun record low F = 50 |Jul record low F = 51 |Aug record low F = 60 |Sep record low F = 49 |Oct record low F = 36 |Nov record low F = 27 |Dec record low F = 21

|access-date = March 26, 2023 |access-date = March 26, 2023

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Imperial had a population of 20,263. The population density was 3,221.5 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Imperial was 28.5% White, 1.7% African American, 1.6% Native American, 2.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 34.1% from other races, and 31.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 82.7% of the population.

The census reported that 99.8% of the population lived in households and 32 people (0.2%) were institutionalized.

There were 6,029 households, out of which 53.5% included children under the age of 18, 58.8% were married-couple households, 6.1% were cohabiting couple households, 22.9% had a female householder with no partner present, and 12.2% had a male householder with no partner present. 14.3% of households were one person, and 4.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.36.

The age distribution was 30.6% under the age of 18, 8.9% aged 18 to 24, 29.8% aged 25 to 44, 21.7% aged 45 to 64, and 9.0% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 32.7years. For every 100 females, there were 94.4 males.

There were 6,214 housing units at an average density of 987.9 /mi2, of which 6,029 (97.0%) were occupied. Of these, 69.6% were owner-occupied, and 30.4% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 25.9% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 31.2% spoke only English at home, 64.9% spoke Spanish, 0.1% spoke other Indo-European languages, 2.9% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.9% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 82.9% were high school graduates and 20.3% had a bachelor's degree.

The median household income in 2023 was $83,214, and the per capita income was $28,599. About 10.7% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

The 2010 United States census reported that Imperial had a population of 14,758. The population density was 2,519.9 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Imperial was 9,298 (63.0%) White, 331 (2.2%) African American, 154 (1.0%) Native American, 370 (2.5%) Asian, 13 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 3,783 (25.6%) from other races, and 809 (5.5%) from two or more races. The ethnic makeup of Imperial was 11,046 (74.8%) Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The Census reported that 14,727 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 31 (0.2%) were institutionalized.

There were 4,405 households, out of which 2,464 (55.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,669 (60.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 697 (15.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 255 (5.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 268 (6.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 27 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 621 households (14.1%) were made up of individuals, and 181 (4.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.34. There were 3,621 families (82.2% of all households); the average family size was 3.69.

The population was spread out, with 4,927 people (33.4%) under the age of 18, 1,376 people (9.3%) aged 18 to 24, 4,618 people (31.3%) aged 25 to 44, 2,881 people (19.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 956 people (6.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males.

There were 4,751 housing units at an average density of 811.2 /sqmi, of which 4,405 were occupied, of which 3,130 (71.1%) were owner-occupied, and 1,275 (28.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.5%. 10,692 people (72.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 4,035 people (27.3%) lived in rental housing units.

Arts and culture

The annual California Mid-Winter Fair takes place in Imperial, often in February, and receives over 100,000 visitors.

The California Mid-Winter Fairgrounds is located in the heart of Imperial. The Mid-Winter Fair is the county's largest attended event. The fair lasts for a total of 10 days and is held at the end of February or beginning of March each year. The fairgrounds will host other events during the year such as; festivals, barbecues, car races, concerts, trade shows, and private parties. Visitors are from nearby Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico and numerous "snowbirds" across Southern California and the country (U.S.) temporarily reside in Imperial.

Imperial is also home to the Imperial Market Days.

Imperial Market Days is a signature, sponsorship funded event series put on by the City of Imperial to promote quality of life opportunities locally and throughout the Imperial Valley. Starting in October, the events take place in Downtown Imperial. These events are free for the public to attend. The synergy between local businesses and the community has attracted record crowds of up to 13,000 people throughout the region. Over 100 vendors participate in each event. https://www.cityofimperial.org/

Government

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

In the United States House of Representatives, Imperial is in .

Infrastructure

Utilities

The city operates its own water and sewer system. Trash service is provided by Republic Services. Other utility providers for Imperial are Southern California Gas, Imperial Irrigation District, AT&T California, and Spectrum.

Notable people

• Royce Freeman, football player
• Charles Harris Garrigues, newspaperman
• Ben Hulse, member of the California State Senate
• Andy Ruiz Jr., boxer, former WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO world heavyweight champion.

References

References

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16. "Members Assembly". State of California.
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20. Garrigues, George. (January 1, 2006). "He Usually Lived With a Female: The Life of California Newspaperman Charles Harris (Brick) Garrigues". Quail Creek Press.
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