Potter Valley, California

History

In 1852, when William and Thomas Potter and Mose Briggs first entered what would become known as Potter Valley, they were searching for the headwaters of the Russian River from their base in Sonoma County. The Pomo people called it Ba-lo Kai. They found three Pomo villages (each about 500 people strong), the Russian headwaters, and a lush valley with wild oats "stirrup high". Eventually the Potters returned to settle there, and the valley became known by the American ranchers' name.

The post office opened in 1870.

Painter Grace Hudson was born in Potter Valley in 1865.

In addition to his famous Ridgewood Ranch, Charles S. Howard, owner of the racehorse Seabiscuit, owned a ranch in Potter Valley where he ran cattle.

Geography

Potter Valley is located 18 mi northeast of Ukiah and 8 mi northeast of Lake Mendocino in Mendocino County, with the valley floor at roughly 950 ft in elevation. The headwaters of the East Fork of the Russian River originate in the valley. The Potter Valley Project delivers additional water from the Eel River, which flows into the Russian River here via a controversial hydroelectric plant that tunnels through the mountains to take advantage of the relative proximity of these two waterways. This diversion supplies a significant amount of water to inland Mendocino and Sonoma counties. Potter Valley is a rich agricultural region, with excellent soils, planted mostly in irrigated pasture, wine grapes, and pears, but supporting a wide variety of farms and ranches.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Potter Valley Census Designated Place (CDP) covers an area of 4.0 sqmi, 99.31% of it land, and 0.69% of it water. The entire valley, which is mostly rural, has an area of roughly 12 sqmi.

Climate

Potter Valley has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa) typical of the interior of Northern California, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, along with great diurnal temperature variation. |Jan record high F = 82 |Feb record high F = 87 |Mar record high F = 90 |Apr record high F = 95 |May record high F = 103 |Jun record high F = 110 |Jul record high F = 113 |Aug record high F = 116 |Sep record high F = 113 |Oct record high F = 103 |Nov record high F = 93 |Dec record high F = 83 |year record high F = 116 |Jan avg record high F = 67.9 |Feb avg record high F = 73.3 |Mar avg record high F = 80.5 |Apr avg record high F = 86.5 |May avg record high F = 93.1 |Jun avg record high F = 100.8 |Jul avg record high F = 103.9 |Aug avg record high F = 102.9 |Sep avg record high F = 101.1 |Oct avg record high F = 91.6 |Nov avg record high F = 77.7 |Dec avg record high F = 65.8 |year avg record high F = 105.9 |Jan avg record low F = 24.0 |Feb avg record low F = 25.8 |Mar avg record low F = 28.7 |Apr avg record low F = 31.2 |May avg record low F = 36.0 |Jun avg record low F = 40.7 |Jul avg record low F = 47.2 |Aug avg record low F = 45.9 |Sep avg record low F = 40.5 |Oct avg record low F = 33.6 |Nov avg record low F = 25.9 |Dec avg record low F = 22.8 |year avg record low F = 20.9 |Jan record low F = 14 |Feb record low F = 15 |Mar record low F = 20 |Apr record low F = 22 |May record low F = 28 |Jun record low F = 32 |Jul record low F = 38 |Aug record low F = 39 |Sep record low F = 33 |Oct record low F = 21 |Nov record low F = 19 |Dec record low F = 12 |year record low F = 12

Demographics

|align-fn=center 2010

Potter Valley first appeared as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. census.

The 2020 United States census reported that Potter Valley had a population of 665. The population density was 165.1 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Potter Valley was 484 (72.8%) White, 0 (0.0%) African American, 12 (1.8%) Native American, 1 (0.2%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 67 (10.1%) from other races, and 101 (15.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 146 persons (22.0%).

The whole population lived in households. There were 255 households, out of which 71 (27.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 121 (47.5%) were married-couple households, 18 (7.1%) were cohabiting couple households, 61 (23.9%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 55 (21.6%) had a male householder with no partner present. 77 households (30.2%) were one person, and 50 (19.6%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.61.

The age distribution was 176 people (26.5%) under the age of 18, 31 people (4.7%) aged 18 to 24, 165 people (24.8%) aged 25 to 44, 148 people (22.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 145 people (21.8%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 38.3years. For every 100 females, there were 112.5 males.

There were 279 housing units at an average density of 69.3 /mi2, of which 255 (91.4%) were occupied. Of these, 186 (72.9%) were owner-occupied, and 69 (27.1%) were occupied by renters.

Politics

In the state legislature, Potter Valley is in , and .

Federally, Potter Valley is in .

References

References

1. {{gnis. 265005. Potter Valley
2. "P1. Race – Potter Valley CDP, California: 2020 DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)". U.S. Census Bureau.
3. "2021 U.S. Gazetteer Files: California". United States Census Bureau.
4. 2628779. Potter Valley Census Designated Place
5. It is located {{convert. 18. mi north-northeast of [[Ukiah, California. 125
6. Mendocino County Historical Society, "The Potter Valley Story" (1972)
7. [http://www.gracehudsonmuseum.org/ Grace Hudson Museum & Sun House, 2012, accessed 21 March 2013]
8. [http://www.penofin.com/seabiscuit_barn.shtml Historic Restoration... The Ultimate Recycling] {{Webarchive. link. (2010-04-05 , Victorian Homes Magazine 2012, accessed 21 March 2013)
9. "Potter Valley Powerhouse - Eureka, CA NOAA Online Weather Data". [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]].
10. "Summary of Monthly Normals 1991-2020". [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]].
11. "Decennial Census by Decade".
12. "2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
13. "Potter Valley CDP, California; DP1: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
14. "Potter Valley CDP, California; P16: Household Type - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
15. "Senators". State of California.
16. "Members Assembly". State of California.
17. {{Cite GovTrack. CA. 2