Northern California, often abbreviated NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, in contrast to the 10 counties of Southern California,[1][2] its main population centers include the San Francisco Bay Area (anchored by the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland), the Greater Sacramento area (anchored by the state capital Sacramento), and the Metropolitan Fresno area (anchored by the city of Fresno). Northern California also contains redwood forests, along with the Sierra Nevada including Yosemite Valley and part of Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta (the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range after Mount Rainier in Washington), and the northern portion of the Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions.
The 48-county definition is not used for the Northern California Megaregion, one of the 11 [3]
Native Americans arrived in northern California at least as early as 8,000 to 5,000 BC and perhaps even much earlier, and successive waves of arrivals led to one of the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America. The arrival of European explorers from the early 16th to the mid-18th centuries, did not establish European settlements in northern California. In 1770, the Spanish mission at Monterey was the first European settlement in the area, followed by other missions along the coast—eventually extending as far north as Sonoma County.
Description
Yosemite Valley in the Sierra Nevada.
Map of northern California counties.
Northern California is not a formal geographic designation. California's north-south midway division is around 37° latitude, near the level of San Francisco. Popularly, though, "Northern California" usually refers to the state's northernmost 48 counties. This definition coincides with the county lines at 35° 47′ 28″ north latitude, which form the southern borders of Monterey, Kings, Tulare and Inyo counties. The term is also applied to the area north of Point Conception and the Tehachapi Mountains.
Because of California's large size and diverse geography, the state can be subdivided in other ways as well. For example, the Central Valley is a distinct region in itself both culturally and topographically from coastal California, though in northern versus southern California divisions, the Sacramento Valley and most of the San Joaquin Valley are usually placed in northern California.
The state is often considered as having an additional division north of the urban areas of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas. Extreme northern residents have felt under-represented in state government and in 1941 attempted to form a new state with southwestern Oregon to be called Jefferson, or more recently to introduce legislation to split California into two or three states. The coastal area north of the Bay Area is referred to as the North Coast while the interior region north of Sacramento is referred by locals as the Northstate.
Significance
Since the events of the Clint Eastwood, as well as beatniks, the Summer of Love, winemaking, the cradle of the international environmental movement, and the open, casual workplace first popularized in the Silicon Valley dot-com boom and now widely in use around the world. It is also Home to one of the largest Air Force Bases on the West Coast, and the largest of California, Travis Air Force Base.
Geography and climate
Shasta Lake, with 365 miles of shoreline, when the lake is full. July, 1965
Northern California's diverse geography ranges from the sandy beaches of the Pacific coast to the rugged, snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the east. The central portion of the region is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country. The Sierra Nevada contains Yosemite Valley, famous for its glacially-carved domes, and Sequoia National Park, home to the largest trees on Earth, the giant sequoia trees, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. The tallest living things on Earth, the ancient redwood trees, dot the coastline, mainly north of San Francisco, and in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It also includes one of the largest Brackish-Marsh's in Western United States, Suisun Marsh. The area is also known for its fertile farm and ranch lands, wine country, the high mountains of the southern Cascade Range, the Trinity Alps, and the Klamath Mountains, lakes, and the windswept sagebrush steppe, in the northeast portion of the region.
Lake Shasta, located between the north end of the Sacramento Valley and Mount Shasta, is the largest reservoir, and is the third largest body of water after Lake Tahoe and the Salton Sea, in California. It was created by the construction of Shasta Dam across the Sacramento River, which was completed in 1945.
The climate can be generally characterized by its marine to warm Mediterranean climates along the coast, to somewhat Continental Mediterranean Climate in the valley to alpine climate zones in the high mountains. Apart from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas (and some other cities in the Central Valley), it is a region of relatively low population density.
Cities
San Francisco, the second most populated city in northern California but the most populous urban and metropolitan area (4.7 million residents) and the 14th largest in the United States, is the leading economic center of the
San Francisco Bay Area, and of northern California.
San Jose, the most populous city in northern California and tenth largest in the United States, is the center of
Silicon Valley, the preeminent region for technology in the US (1.9 million residents).
Northern California's largest [3] The 2010 U.S. Census showed that the Bay Area grew at a faster rate than the Greater Los Angeles Area while Greater Sacramento had the largest growth rate of any metropolitan area in California.
Downtown Fresno, third most populated city in northern California and fifth in California, from Chuckchansi Park
Downtown Oakland by air
The state's larger inland cities are considered part of northern California in cases when the state is divided into two parts. Important cities in the region not in major metropolitan areas include Eureka on the far North Coast, Redding, at the northern end of the Central Valley, Chico, and Yuba City in the mid-north of the Valley, as well as Fresno and Visalia on the southern end. Though smaller in every case except for Fresno than the larger cities of the vast region, these smaller regional centers are often of historical, and perhaps inflated economic importance for their respective size, due to their locations, which are primarily rural or otherwise isolated.
History
Historical events to 1847
Inhabited for millennia by Native Americans, from the Shasta tribe in the north, to the Miwoks in the central coast and Sierra Nevada, to the Yokuts of the southern Central Valley, northern California was among the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America.[4]
European explorers
The first European to explore the coast was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailing for the Spanish Crown; in 1542, Cabrillo's expedition sailed perhaps as far north as the Rogue River in today's Oregon.[5] Beginning in 1565, the Spanish Manila galleons crossed the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish Philippines, with silver and gemstones from Mexico. The Manila galleons returned across the northern Pacific, and reached North America usually off the coast of northern California, and then continued south with their Asian trade goods to Mexico.
In 1579, northern California was visited by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake who landed north of today's San Francisco and claimed the area for England. In 1602, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno explored California's coast as far north as Monterey Bay, where he went ashore. Other Spanish explorers sailed along the coast of northern California for the next 150 years, but no settlements were established.
Spanish era
The first European inhabitants were Spanish missionaries, who built missions along the California coast. The mission at Monterey was first established in 1770, and at San Francisco in 1776. In all, ten missions stretched along the coast from Sonoma to Monterey (and still more missions to the southern tip of Baja California). In 1786, the French signaled their interest in the northern California area by sending a voyage of exploration to Monterey.
The first twenty years of the 19th century continued the colonization of the northern California coast by Spain. By 1820, Spanish influence extended inland approximately 25 to 50 miles (80 km) from the missions. Outside of this zone, perhaps 200,000 to 250,000 Native Americans continued to lead traditional lives. The Adams-Onís Treaty, signed in 1819 between Spain and the young United States, set the northern boundary of the Spanish claims at the 42nd parallel, effectively creating today's northern boundary of northern California.
Russian presence
Russians, from Alaska, were moving down the coast, and in 1812 established Fort Ross, a fur trading outpost on the coast of today's Sonoma County. Fort Ross was the southernmost point of expansion, meeting the Spanish northern expansion some 70 miles (113 km) north of San Francisco. In 1841, as the American presence in northern California began to increase and politics began to change the region, a deal was made with John Sutter and the Russians abandoned their northern California settlements.
Mexican era
After Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico continued Spain's missions and settlements in northern California as well as Spain's territorial claims. The Mexican Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians) in these settlements primarily traded cattle hides and tallow with American and European merchant vessels.
In 1825, the Hudson's Bay Company established a major trading post just north of today's Portland, Oregon. British fur trappers and hunters then used the Siskiyou Trail to travel throughout northern California.[6] The leader of a further French scientific expedition to northern California, Eugene Duflot de Mofras, wrote in 1840 "...it is evident that California will belong to whatever nation chooses to send there a man-of-war and two hundred men."[7]:260 By the 1830s, a significant number of non-Californios had immigrated to northern California. Chief among these was John Sutter, a European immigrant from Switzerland, who was granted 48,827 acres (197.60 km2) centered on the area of today's Sacramento.[8]
American interest
American trappers began entering northern California in the 1830s.[7]:263–4 In 1834, American visionary Bartleson-Bidwell Party of 1841 via the new California Trail.[7]:263–273 Also in 1841, an overland exploratory party of the United States Exploring Expedition came down the Siskiyou Trail from the Pacific Northwest. In 1846, the Donner Party earned notoriety as they struggled to enter northern California.
Californian Independence and Beginning of United States era
When the Mexican-American War was declared on May 13, 1846, it took almost two months (mid-July 1846) for word to get to California. On June 14, 1846, some 30 non-Mexican settlers, mostly Americans, staged a revolt and seized the small Mexican garrison in Sonoma. They raised the "Bear Flag" of the California Republic over Sonoma. The "Bear Flag Republic" lasted only 26 days, until the U.S. Army, led by John Frémont, took over on July 9.[9] The California state flag today is based on this original Bear Flag, and continues to contain the words "California Republic."
Commodore John Drake Sloat ordered his naval forces to occupy Yerba Buena (present San Francisco) on July 7 and within days American forces controlled San Francisco, Sonoma, and Sutter's Fort in Sacramento.[9] The treaty ending the Mexican-American War was signed on February 2, 1848, and Mexico formally ceded Alta California (including all of present-day northern California) to the United States.
Gold Rush and statehood
The California Gold Rush took place almost exclusively in northern California from 1848–1855. It began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma.[10] News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 people coming to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. San Francisco grew from a tiny hamlet of tents to a boomtown, and roads, churches, schools and other towns were built. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service and railroads were built. However, the Gold Rush also had negative effects: Native Americans were attacked and pushed off traditional lands, the native oyster species became overharvested and nearly wiped out all the way into the Pacific Northwest, and gold mining caused environmental harm.
The Gold Rush also increased pressure to make California a U.S. state. Pro-slavery politicians initially attempted to permanently divide northern and southern California at 36 degrees, 30 minutes, the line of the Missouri Compromise. But instead, the passing of the Compromise of 1850 enabled California to be admitted to the Union as a free state.
Population and agricultural expansion (1855-1899)
The decades following the Gold Rush brought dramatic expansion to northern California, both in population and economically – particularly in agriculture. The completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, with its terminus in Sacramento, meant that northern California's agricultural produce (and some manufactured goods) could now be shipped economically to the rest of the United States. In return, immigrants from the rest of the United States (and Europe) could comfortably come to northern California. A network of railroads spread throughout northern California, and in 1887, a rail link was completed to the Pacific Northwest. Almost all of these railways came under the control of the Southern Pacific Railroad, headquartered in San Francisco, and San Francisco continued as a financial and cultural center.
Substantial tensions during this era included nativist sentiments (primarily against Chinese immigrants), tensions between the increasing power of the Southern Pacific Railroad and small farmers, and the beginnings of the labor union movement.
Economy
Northern California's economy is noted for being the de facto world leader in industries such as high technology (both software and semiconductor), as well as being known for clean power, biomedical, government, and finance. Other significant industries include tourism, shipping, manufacturing, and agriculture. Its economy is diverse, though more concentrated in high technology, and subject to the whims of venture capital than any other major regional economy in the nation especially within Silicon Valley, and less dependent on oil and residential housing than Southern California. It is home to the state capital, as well as several Western United States regional offices in San Francisco, such as the Federal Reserve and 9th Circuit Court.
Population
The population of the forty-eight counties of northern California has shown a steady increase over the years.[11][12] The 1850 census almost certainly undercounted the population of the area, especially undercounting a still substantial Native American population.
The largest percentage increase outside the Gold Rush era (51%) came in the decade of the 1940s, as the area was the destination of many post-War veterans and their families, attracted by the greatly expanding industrial base and (often) by their time stationed in northern California during World War II. The largest absolute increase occurred during the decade of the 1980s (over 2.1 million person increase), attracted to job opportunities in part by the expansion taking place in Silicon Valley and the Cold War era expansion of the defense industry. The 2010 U.S. Census revealed that northern California grew at a faster rate than Southern California in the 2000s with a rate slightly higher than the state average.
Parks and other protected areas
National Park System
The U.S. National Park System controls a large and diverse group of parks in northern California. The best known is Yosemite National Park, which is displayed on the reverse side of the California state quarter. Other prominent parks are the Kings Canyon-Sequoia National Park complex, Redwood National Park, Pinnacles National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park and the largest in the contiguous forty-eight states, Death Valley National Park.
National Monuments and other federally protected areas
Other areas under federal protection include Muir Woods National Monument, Giant Sequoia National Monument, Devils Postpile National Monument, Lava Beds National Monument, Point Reyes National Seashore, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries (both off the coast of San Francisco). Included within the latter National Marine Sanctuary is the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge; this National Wildlife Refuge is one of approximately twenty-five such refuges in northern California. National forests occupy large sections of northern California, including the Shasta-Trinity, Klamath, Modoc, Lassen, Mendocino, Eldorado, Tahoe, and Sequoia national forests, among others. Included within (or adjacent to) national forests are federally protected wilderness areas, including the Trinity Alps, Castle Crags, Granite Chief, and Desolation wilderness areas.
In addition, the California Coastal National Monument protects all islets, reefs, and rock outcroppings from the shore of northern California out to a distance of 12 nautical miles (22.22 km), along the entire northern California coastline. In addition, the National Park Service administers protected areas on Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. The NPS also administers the Manzanar National Historic Site in Inyo County, the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, and the Tule Lake Unit of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument outside of Tulelake.
Other parks and protected areas
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Educational institutions
Northern California hosts a number of world-renowned universities including Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. Top-tier public graduate schools include Boalt Hall and Hastings law schools and UC San Francisco, a top-ranked medical school, and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, the largest vet school in the United States.
Public institutions
Private institutions
(Partial list)
Research institutions
(Partial list)
Counties
Regions
The following regions are entirely or partly within northern California:
Cities and Towns in northern California with More Than 50,000 Inhabitants
|
Largest cities (city proper) in northern California
|
[13]
Metropolitan areas
Northern California is home to three of the state's four
extended metropolitan areas that are home to over three-fourths of the region's population as of the
2010 United States Census:
[14]
Major business districts
The following are major central business districts:
Transportation
See also categories:
Airports
San Francisco International Airport or SFO is the largest and busiest airport in northern California and second in the state and tenth in the United States.
The following airports currently have regularly scheduled commercial service:
Railroad
Major transit organizations
Major transit ferries
The historic
San Francisco Ferry Building is the busiest ferry terminal on the West Coast and connects Downtown San Francisco to various parts of the Bay Area.
Freeways
Interstates:
U.S. Routes:
The
Golden Gate Bridge is one of northern California's most well known landmarks and one of the most famous bridges in the world.
I-80 and I-580 in
Berkeley in the Bay Area
State Route 120 is one of the many highways that traverse the isolated areas of inner northern California
Principal State highways:
Communication
Telephone Area Codes
-
209 — Northern San Joaquin Valley (Stockton, Modesto, and Merced).
-
408 — Most of Santa Clara County (San Jose and Gilroy).
-
415 — San Francisco, Daly City, and Marin County. One of the three original Area Codes in California.
-
510 — Inner East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, and Fremont). Originally part of area code 415.
-
530 — A large northeastern section of the region including Tehama County, Shasta County, Lassen County, Yuba County, Sutter County, Butte County, and Nevada County. Split from area code 916 in 1997-1998.
-
559 — Southern San Joaquin Valley (Madera, Fresno, and Visalia).
-
628 — Overlay with 415.
-
650 — San Francisco Peninsula (San Mateo, Redwood City, and Palo Alto). Originally part of area code 415.
-
669 — Overlay with 408.
-
707 — The North Coast section of the region from Sonoma County to the Oregon border. Cities include Eureka, Ukiah, Santa Rosa, Napa, Vallejo and Fairfield.
-
831 — Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties. Originally part of area code 408.
-
916 — Sacramento County and the Sacramento suburbs in western Placer and El Dorado Counties. One of the three original area codes in California, formerly covered all areas now within 530.
-
925 — Outer East Bay (Concord, Pittsburg, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Pleasanton and Livermore). Originally part of area codes 415 and 510.[15]
Professional sports
See also
References
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^ "[E]vents from January 1848 through December 1855 [are] generally acknowledged as the 'Gold Rush' .... After 1855, California gold mining changed and is outside the 'rush' era."
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^ Historical census data by U.S. Census Bureau
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^ U.S. Census data for year 2000
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^ Population figures are the most recent figures contained in the respective WorldHeritage articles, in the List of cities in California (by population), or in the State of California, Department of Finance 2007 estimates.
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^ Excerpted from 2010 United States Census
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^ For current information, see nanpa.com, the North American Numbering Plan Administration site.
External links
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Northern California at DMOZ
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