Sebastopol, California
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Sebastopol is a town in Sonoma County, California, approximately 55 miles north of San Francisco. The population was 7,774 at the 2000 census. It is about a 30 minute drive from the Pacific Ocean, between Santa Rosa and Bodega Bay, and is known for its progressive politics and small-town charm. It was once primarily a plum- and apple-growing region; wine grapes are now predominant. World-famous horticulturist Luther Burbank had gardens in this fertile region. The city hosts an annual Apple Blossom Festival and Gravenstein Apple Fair, and is the home of publisher O'Reilly Media, which publishes books on open-source software. Former Primus lead singer/bassist Les Claypool and singer/songwriter Tom Waits currently reside in the area. Sebastopol is home to Analy High School, Brook Haven Junior High School, Gravenstein Elementary School, Hillcrest Middle School, Twin Hills Middle School and Pine Crest Elementary. It is also the sister city of Chihirin, Ukraine, and Yamauchi-Machi, Japan.
History
The area's first known inhabitants were the native Miwok and Pomo peoples. The town of Sebastopol formed in the 1850s with a U.S. Post Office and as a small trade center for the farmers in the surrounding agricultural region. As California's population swelled after the westward migration and the Gold rush of the 1850s, more and more settlers drifted into the fertile California valleys north of San Francisco to try their hand at farming.The name of Sebastopol first came into use in the late 1850s as a result of a prolonged and lively fist fight in the newly formed town, which was likened to the long British siege of the Russian seaport of Sevastopol during the then-raging Crimean War. Britain, France, Sardinia and Turkey fought Russia in this war, one of the first wars to be directly reported by journalists and photographers. The Crimean War was also the origin of improved medical care of the wounded, primarily due to the efforts of Florence Nightingale, who formed a nursing corps to care for wounded British soldiers. Evidently, many Americans in the west sympathized more for the Russian than for the British cause as there were at one time four other Sebastopols in California; one in Napa County, renamed Yountville, one each in Tulare, Sacramento, and Nevada counties.
The apple industry brought a steady rural prosperity to the town and Sebastopol was incorporated in 1902 with schools, churches, hotels, canneries, mills, wineries, and an opera house to its credit. The 1906 earthquake reduced most of these early buildings to rubble, but as elsewhere in the county, the town was rebuilt.
In the second half of the Twentieth Century, the apple industry struggled to compete with other apple producing regions and gradually declined in its economic significance. With greater personal mobility and the rise of larger shopping centers in other Sonoma County communities, Sebastopol changed from a full-service town with a complete range of stores to one with a more limited range of goods and services.
One historical tidbit is that until the 1990s, Sebastopol was the last remaining city in Northern California that still had working railroad tracks going down Main Street. The tracks, built to accommodate the trains servicing the apple canneries in the first part of the 1900s, were removed in the 1990s when the downtown area was redesigned with two one-way streets to enhance traffic along Gravenstein Highway (Route 116), the canneries having been closed, due to the conversion of apple orchards to vineyards and housing developments.
Another point of historical trivia is that Analy High School counts among its alumni Williard Libby, inventor of Carbon Dating, and actress Karen Valentine. Jerry Garcia attended Analy High School between the ages of 16 and 17, but dropped out.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.9 km² (1.9 mi²), all land.
Demographics
As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] of 2000, there were 7,774 people, 3,250 households, and 1,953 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,596.6/km² (4,138.8/mi²). There were 3,321 housing units at an average density of 682.0/km² (1,768.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.85% White, 0.66% African American, 0.78% Native American, 1.52% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 3.86% from other races, and 3.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.26% of the population.There were 3,250 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.9% are other living arrangements. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 27.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 81.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $46,436, and the median income for a family was $55,792. Males had a median income of $40,538 versus $32,399 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,881. About 4.7% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
The majority of Sebastopol city council members belong to the Green Party. The remaining council members are Democrats. In 1986, the citizens approved an initiative declaring Sebastopol a "Nuclear Free Zone".External links
- [Official City of Sebastopol Website]
- [Maps and aerial photos]
- * Street map from [Google Maps] or [Yahoo! Maps]
- * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
- * Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
- * Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Windows Live Local]
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