Garberville is a census-designated place

Census-designated place

A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

 in Humboldt County

Humboldt County, California

Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It is located on the South Fork of the Eel River

Eel River (California)

The Eel River is a major river system of the northern Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. Approximately 200 miles long, it drains a rugged area in the California Coast Ranges between the Sacramento Valley and the ocean. For most of its course, the river flows northwest, parallel to the...

 52 miles (84 km) south-southeast of Eureka

Eureka, California

Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....

, at an elevation of 535 feet (163 m). The population was 913 at the 2010 United States Census. It is approximately 200 miles (321.9 km) north of San Francisco, California, and within a fifteen-minute drive to Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Humboldt Redwoods State Park is located south of Eureka, California in southern Humboldt County, within northern California. Established by the Save-the-Redwoods League in 1921 with the dedication of the Raynal Bolling Memorial Grove, it has grown to become the third largest park in the California...

 and a sixty-minute drive to Eureka, the county seat. The ZIP Code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 is 95542. Garberville is the primary town in the area known as the Mateel Region, consisting of parts of the Mattole and Eel River watersheds in southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino counties.

History

The first settlers arrived in 1853 to what was then named "Dogtown". Jacob C. Garber the town postmaster

Postmaster

A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...

 later named the town after himself. J.E. Wood laid out the town in 1862. The first post office in Garberville opened in 1874.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Garberville had a population of 913. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 330.5 people per square mile (127.6/km²). The racial makeup of Garberville was 815 (89.3%) White, 14 (1.5%) African American, 29 (3.2%) Native American, 17 (1.9%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 7 (0.8%) from other races

Race (United States Census)

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 31 (3.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 54 persons (5.9%).

The Census reported that 785 people (86.0% of the population) lived in households, 128 (14.0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 390 households, out of which 86 (22.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 102 (26.2%) were opposite-sex married couples

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 47 (12.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 33 (8.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 50 (12.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships

POSSLQ

POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....

, and 5 (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 172 households (44.1%) were made up of individuals and 49 (12.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.01. There were 182 families

Family (U.S. Census)

A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...

 (46.7% of all households); the average family size was 2.69.

The population was spread out with 160 people (17.5%) under the age of 18, 85 people (9.3%) aged 18 to 24, 258 people (28.3%) aged 25 to 44, 285 people (31.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 125 people (13.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.0 years. For every 100 females there were 109.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.2 males.

There were 434 housing units at an average density of 157.1 per square mile (60.7/km²), of which 175 (44.9%) were owner-occupied, and 215 (55.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.3%. 388 people (42.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 397 people (43.5%) lived in rental housing units.

Transportation and public services

Due to the distance of Garberville and other regional communities from their respective county seats of Eureka and Ukiah

Ukiah, California

The average high temperature is 73.5 °F . Average low temperature is 46.1 °F . Temperatures reach 90 °F on an average of 65.6 days annually and 100 °F on an average of 14.4 days annually. Due to frequent low humidity, summer temperatures normally drop into the fifties at night. Freezing...

, there is a notable lack of mass transportation and other public services. A group of local residents once attempted to qualify a "Sequoia County" initiative to secede from both Humboldt and Mendocino with Garberville as the new county seat, although the campaign ended after they failed to gather enough signatures. Bioregional

Bioregionalism

Bioregionalism is a political, cultural, and environmental system or set of views based on naturally defined areas called bioregions, similar to ecoregions. Bioregions are defined through physical and environmental features, including watershed boundaries and soil and terrain characteristics...

 efforts continue with the recent formation of the Sequoia County Greens as a local Green Party

Green Party of California

The Green Party of California is the California affiliate of the Green Party. The party is a ballot-qualified in California, first established as such in 1991, using the petition method of gaining state recognition....

 chapter, which meets regularly in Garberville.

Incorporation

There was also once an attempt to incorporate Garberville as a city, which was thwarted when county supervisors declined to take the first step with the formation of a Municipal Advisory Committee due to concerns over the associated costs.

Media

Garberville is home to both weekly newspapers in the Mateel Region, locally-owned The Independent and Redwood Times, run by Media News Group as a sister publication of the daily Times-Standard

Times-Standard

The Times-Standard is the only major local daily newspaper covering the far North Coast of California. Headquartered in Eureka, the paper provides coverage of international, national, state and local news in addition to entertainment, sports, and classified listings...

. The town also boasts the only movie house in the area, the Art-Deco-style single-screen Garberville Theatre. Garberville's town square hosts a Farmers' Market

Farmers' market

A farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...

 every Friday in summer and early fall. The Garberville Branch of the Humboldt County Public Library provides the only such service in the Mateel Region. Redwood Community Radio -- KMUD -- broadcasts from Garberville at 91.1 FM.

Politics

In the state legislature

California State Legislature

The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...

 Garberville is located in the 2nd Senate

California State Senate

The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...

 District, represented by Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Noreen Evans

Noreen Evans

Noreen Evans is an American politician in the California State Senate. She is a Democrat representing the 2nd district, encompassing Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake, and Napa counties, as well as parts of Sonoma and Solano counties....

, and in the 1st Assembly

California State Assembly

The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 District, represented by Democrat Wesley Chesbro

Wesley Chesbro

Wesley P. Chesbro is a Democratic politician from California. He is currently the Assembly member for the 1st Assembly district in California. Previously, Chesbro served as a State Senator from California's 2nd district from 1998 until 2006...

. Federally, Garberville is located in California's 1st congressional district

California's 1st congressional district

California's 1st congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of California and presently consists of the northern coastline and includes Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino and Napa counties and parts of Sonoma and Yolo counties.The district is currently...

.

Geography

Garberville is located at 40°06′01"N 123°47′42"W. Its climate is characterized by cold, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The town is stretched out in a small forested valley along U.S. Route 101

U.S. Route 101

U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101, is an important north–south U.S. highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States...

, at an elevation of 535 feet (163.1 m), although the nearby King's Peak rises to 4087 feet (1,245.7 m). The ZIP Code is 95542. The community is inside area code 707

Area code 707

North American area code 707 is a Californian telephone area code which covers Napa, Sebastopol, Vallejo, Benicia, Fairfield, Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Fort Bragg, Crescent City, Eureka, Clearlake, Vacaville, Ukiah, and northwestern California. It was split from area code 415 on March 1, 1959...

.

Economy

There is a Cannabis College in Garberville, and the town has been called "the marijuana heartland of the US" by BBC News

BBC News

BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...

.

External links

• Garberville-Redway Area Chamber of Commerce
• The One Log House in Garberville
• Redwood Times (primarily Southern Humboldt coverage)
• Photographs of the Garberville area
• Sequoia County Greens to meet on Friday Eric Kirk, SoHum Parlance (blog)
• Garberville circa 2002: A visit to that town down south George Ringwald, North Coast Journal
• Life In A Pot-Growing County Mr. Greg, 3AM Magazine
• Second District divided? James Faulk, Times-Standard