Kirkwood, California
Kirkwood | |
|---|---|
 Kirkwood Mountain Resort | |
 Location in Alpine County and the state of California | |
  Kirkwood Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 38°42′10″N 120°04′22″W / 38.70278°N 120.07278°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Counties | Alpine & Amador and El Dorado |
| Government | |
| • State Senate | Megan Dahle (R) and Angelique Ashby (D)[1] |
| • State Assembly | Joe Patterson (R)[2] |
| • U. S. Congress | Mike Thompson (D)[3] |
| Area | |
• Total | 5.334 sq mi (13.815 km2) |
| • Land | 4.359 sq mi (11.290 km2) |
| • Water | 0.975 sq mi (2.525 km2) 18.28% |
| Elevation | 7,690 ft (2,344 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 190 |
| • Density | 36/sq mi (14/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code | 95646 |
| Area code | 209 |
| FIPS code | 06-38646 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 262202, 2408489 |
Kirkwood (formerly Kirk, Kirkwood's, and Roundtop)[5] is an unincorporated community in Alpine and Amador[6] counties, California, United States. Kirkwood's main attraction is the Kirkwood Mountain Resort. The town is accessible by State Route 88. Kirkwood is within the Eldorado National Forest. The population was 158 at the 2010 census.[7][8] For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Kirkwood as a census-designated place (CDP).
History
[edit]Zack Kirkwood, a cattle rancher who had settled in the area, opened an inn, named Kirkwood's, in 1863 with the opening of the Amador/Nevada Wagon Toll Road, the primary route through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The following year, Alpine County was created and the redrawing of the county borders placed the inn at the convergence of Alpine, El Dorado, and Amador counties (the borders were later changed so that the inn is no longer in El Dorado County, but the original signpost marking the intersection of the three counties is still in the building). Eventually, the inn became a fashionable summer resort.
After Zack's death, the inn stayed in the family and continued to operate until 1966, when it was sold to an investment group, who then converted it into the present-day Kirkwood Mountain Resort.
Geography
[edit]According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.3 square miles (14 km2), of which 4.4 square miles (11 km2) is land and 1.0 square mile (2.6 km2) (18.28%) is water.
Climate
[edit]Kirkwood has a dry-summer subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dsc). Summertime is very mild, with little precipitation, while winter is very wet and cold.
| Climate data for Caples Lake, California, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1924–2000 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 64 (18) |
66 (19) |
70 (21) |
78 (26) |
82 (28) |
92 (33) |
95 (35) |
91 (33) |
88 (31) |
83 (28) |
72 (22) |
70 (21) |
95 (35) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 54.0 (12.2) |
54.4 (12.4) |
57.3 (14.1) |
62.0 (16.7) |
69.4 (20.8) |
76.8 (24.9) |
80.2 (26.8) |
80.4 (26.9) |
77.0 (25.0) |
69.9 (21.1) |
61.8 (16.6) |
55.5 (13.1) |
83.4 (28.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 38.1 (3.4) |
39.2 (4.0) |
43.0 (6.1) |
48.2 (9.0) |
56.3 (13.5) |
65.7 (18.7) |
73.8 (23.2) |
72.7 (22.6) |
67.1 (19.5) |
56.6 (13.7) |
43.9 (6.6) |
38.4 (3.6) |
53.6 (12.0) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 28.7 (−1.8) |
28.0 (−2.2) |
31.2 (−0.4) |
35.3 (1.8) |
43.2 (6.2) |
51.3 (10.7) |
58.0 (14.4) |
57.3 (14.1) |
51.8 (11.0) |
42.6 (5.9) |
33.8 (1.0) |
28.4 (−2.0) |
40.8 (4.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 17.4 (−8.1) |
16.4 (−8.7) |
18.5 (−7.5) |
22.3 (−5.4) |
29.0 (−1.7) |
37.0 (2.8) |
42.3 (5.7) |
42.0 (5.6) |
36.6 (2.6) |
28.6 (−1.9) |
21.7 (−5.7) |
16.7 (−8.5) |
27.4 (−2.6) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −8.6 (−22.6) |
−8.4 (−22.4) |
−3.7 (−19.8) |
5.7 (−14.6) |
17.3 (−8.2) |
25.9 (−3.4) |
32.2 (0.1) |
31.5 (−0.3) |
25.4 (−3.7) |
14.9 (−9.5) |
4.1 (−15.5) |
−9.3 (−22.9) |
−14.4 (−25.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −26 (−32) |
−24 (−31) |
−18 (−28) |
−14 (−26) |
−4 (−20) |
7 (−14) |
20 (−7) |
20 (−7) |
10 (−12) |
1 (−17) |
−9 (−23) |
−19 (−28) |
−26 (−32) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 7.08 (180) |
7.84 (199) |
6.32 (161) |
3.41 (87) |
2.72 (69) |
0.97 (25) |
0.44 (11) |
0.62 (16) |
1.16 (29) |
2.93 (74) |
6.04 (153) |
7.48 (190) |
47.01 (1,194) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 85.7 (218) |
81.8 (208) |
79.4 (202) |
32.5 (83) |
14.0 (36) |
1.8 (4.6) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
2.4 (6.1) |
9.2 (23) |
30.4 (77) |
73.0 (185) |
410.2 (1,042.7) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 10.7 | 9.9 | 9.7 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 4.5 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 9.5 | 10.1 | 83.8 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 day) | 10.2 | 9.0 | 8.7 | 5.5 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 7.5 | 9.4 | 56.5 |
| Source 1: NOAA[9] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: XMACIS2[10] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
[edit]| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 96 | — | |
| 2010 | 158 | 64.6% | |
| 2020 | 190 | 20.3% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[11] | |||
The 2020 United States census reported that Kirkwood had a population of 190. The population density was 43.6 inhabitants per square mile (16.8/km2). The racial makeup of Kirkwood was 84.2% White, 3.2% African American, 3.7% Native American, 2.6% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 1.1% from other races, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.7% of the population.
The Census reported that 72.6% of the population lived in households, 26.8% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.5% were institutionalized.
There were 81 households, out of which 8.6% included children under the age of 18, 13.6% were married-couple households, 11.1% were cohabiting couple households, 18.5% had a female householder with no partner present, and 56.8% had a male householder with no partner present. 56.8% of households were one person, and 7.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.7. There were 22 families (27.2% of all households).
The age distribution was 5.8% under the age of 18, 11.1% aged 18 to 24, 33.2% aged 25 to 44, 34.2% aged 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.0 years. There were 121 males and 69 females.
There were 659 housing units at an average density of 151.2 units per square mile (58.4 units/km2), of which 81 (12.3%) were occupied. Of these, 32.1% were owner-occupied, and 67.9% were occupied by renters.[12][13]
Infrastructure
[edit]The Kirkwood Mountain Resort was built with a micro-utility providing electric power without connecting to the state electric grid. The community was eventually connected when the town of Kirkwood took over the utility.[14]
In popular culture
[edit]In episode 4 of season 2 of The West Wing entitled "In This White House", Deputy White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn references Kirkwood in a televised debate about school funding, though he mistakenly states that Kirkwood is located in Oregon. His debate competitor, Ainsley Hayes, corrects him by noting that the town is located in California.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ "Senators". State of California. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ "Members Assembly". State of California. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ "California's 4th Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ "US Census Bureau". www.census.gov. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
- ^ Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, California: Word Dancer Press. p. 1175. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Kirkwood, California
- ^ "American FactFinder - Results". factfinder2.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved November 24, 2018.[dead link]
- ^ "Kirkwood CDP, California Census Data 2010". data.census.gov. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
- ^ "U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Twin Lakes, CA". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
- ^ "xmACIS2". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
- ^ "Kirkwood CDP, California; DP1: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - 2020 Census of Population and Housing". US Census Bureau. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
- ^ "Kirkwood CDP, California; P16: Household Type - 2020 Census of Population and Housing". US Census Bureau. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
- ^ Penn, Ivan (September 1, 2022). "A Solar Firm Plans to Build Off-Grid Neighborhoods in California". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ^ "The West Wing: Second Season - "In This White House" exchange". westwing.bewarne.com. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
External links
[edit]
Municipalities and communities of Alpine County, California, United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| CDPs |  | |
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
Municipalities and communities of Amador County, California, United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| CDPs | ||
| Other unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This CDP also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |