Editing Felton, California

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
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<!-- Basic info  ---------------->
|official_name            = Felton
|other_name               = 
|native_name              = <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
|nickname                 = 
|settlement_type          = [[census-designated place]]
|motto                    = 
<!-- images and maps  ----------->
|image_skyline            = Downtown Felton, California.JPG
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = Downtown Felton
|image_flag               = 
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|image_blank_emblem       = 
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|image_map                = Santa_Cruz_County_California_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Felton_Highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 250x200px
|map_caption              = Location in [[Santa Cruz County, California|Santa Cruz County]] and the state of [[California]]
|image_map1               = 
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|dot_x                    = 
|dot_y                    = 
| pushpin_map = USA
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in the United States
<!-- Location ------------------>
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[California]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in California|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Santa Cruz County, California|Santa Cruz]]
|subdivision_type3        = 
|subdivision_name3        = 
|subdivision_type4        = 
|subdivision_name4        = 
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|established_title        = <!-- Settled -->
|established_date         = 
|established_title2       = <!-- Incorporated (town) -->
|established_date2        = 
|established_title3       = <!-- Incorporated (city) -->
|established_date3        = 
<!-- Area------------------>
|area_magnitude           = 
| unit_pref               = US
| area_footnotes          = <ref>[https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt U.S. Census] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125061959/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |date=2012-01-25 }}</ref>
| area_total_sq_mi        = 4.552
| area_land_sq_mi         = 4.552
| area_water_sq_mi        = 0
| area_total_km2          = 11.790
| area_land_km2           = 11.790
| area_water_km2          = 0
| area_water_percent      = 0
| area_note               = 
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<!-- Population   ----------------------->
|population_as_of         = 2020
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_note          = 
|population_total         = 4489
|population_density_km2   = auto
|population_density_sq_mi = auto
|population_metro         = 
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<!-- General information  --------------->
|timezone                 = [[Pacific Time Zone|PST]]
|utc_offset               = -8
|timezone_DST             = PDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -7
|coordinates              = {{coord|37|3|5|N|122|3|21|W|region:US-CA|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes      = <!--for references: use <ref> </ref> tags-->
|elevation_m              = 87
|elevation_ft             = 285
<!-- Area/postal codes & others -------->
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 95018
|area_code                = [[Area code 831|831]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 06-23826
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 0277512
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
}}
[[File:Felton Library.jpg|thumb|Felton Museum on Gushee Street]]
'''Felton''' is a [[census-designated place]] (CDP) in [[Santa Cruz County, California|Santa Cruz County]], [[California]], United States. The population was 4,489 as of 2020 census and according to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the CDP has a total area of {{convert|4.6|sqmi|km2}}, all of it land.

==History==
[[Image:Locomotive -7 - 'Sonora' - Roaring Camp Railroad - Santa Cruz, CA.JPG|thumb|[[Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad|Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad]]]]
Felton is part of the traditional territory of the Sayant, an [[Awaswas]]-speaking group considered part of the [[Ohlone]] people. Most of the Sayant were sent to [[Mission Santa Cruz]] and the area of the [[San Lorenzo Valley]] remained unpopulated except for occasional travelers. In 1833, [[Rancho Zayante]] was established at the confluence of the [[San Lorenzo River]] and [[Zayante Creek]] and granted to Joaquín Buelna.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://slvpost.com/streetwise-the-community-of-zayante/|title=Streetwise: The Community of Zayante|publisher=[[San Lorenzo Valley Post]]|date=February 21, 2022|author=Lisa Robinson|access-date=31 January 2024}}</ref> The rancho subsequently passed to Francisco Moss in 1839,{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} then Joseph L. Majors on April 22, 1841. Majors acquired it on behalf of [[Isaac Graham]], who operated a lumber mill on the property.<ref>{{cite book|title=Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary|author=Donald T. Clark|publisher=Kestrel Press|date=2008|page=274}}</ref>

In the aftermath of California statehood in 1850, the [[California Gold Rush]] expanded outward, eventually reaching the San Lorenzo Valley. Gold was struck along western tributaries of the San Lorenzo River such as Gold Gulch.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Golden Boulder of the Santa Cruz Bonanza|author=Ross Eric Gibson|publisher=[[Santa Cruz Sentinel]]|date=February 21, 2021}}</ref> These miners, combined with lumbermen and their families, began a community known in early days as "San Lorenzo." After Graham died in 1863, his lawyer Edward Stanly oversaw the subdivision of his estate. In 1868, he hired Horace Gushee to subdivide the property and [[Frederick A. Hihn]] to promote it. Gushee was a director of the failed San Lorenzo Railroad scheme and planned to make the community into the terminus for the railroad. In 1868, he or Stanly named the town Felton, probably after former [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] mayor [[John B. Felton]], who may have been an investor.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=[[Santa Cruz Sentinel]]|title=Railroad|date=May 23, 1868|page=3}}</ref>

Although the railroad was never built, Felton continued to grow as a town focused on the lumber, [[quicklime|lime]], and mining industries. In 1875, it became the southern terminus of the San Lorenzo Valley Logging Flume from [[Boulder Creek, California|Boulder Creek]], and the northern terminus of the [[Santa Cruz and Felton Railroad]] to Santa Cruz.<ref name="flume">{{cite web
  | title = Sheriffs of Santa Clara
  | publisher = Sheriff Lauri Smith
  | url = http://www.sherifflauriesmith.com/sheriff%27sofsanta.html
  | access-date = 2012-08-18
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120306063313/http://sherifflauriesmith.com/sheriff'sofsanta.html
  | archive-date = 2012-03-06
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> and when formally opened in October 1875 was augmented by a new rail line to transport logs to the wharf in Santa Cruz.<ref name="flume2">{{cite book
  | title = The San Lorenzo Valley, p. 20
  | year = 2012 
 | publisher = Acadia Publishing, Charleston, SC 
  | isbn = 9780738592299 
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cxFqY-ZNXHIC&q=san+lorenzo+valley+flume&pg=PA20}}</ref> To enable it to negotiate on better terms with the [[South Pacific Coast Railroad]], Felton was incorporated as a town by the [[California State Legislature|Legislature]] on March 8, 1878.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/sites/clerk.assembly.ca.gov/files/archive/Statutes/1917/17Vol1_Chapters.pdf|title=Stats. 1917, Ch. 109, Sec. 1.|publisher=[[California Secretary of State]]|access-date=17 October 2020}}</ref> This gamble did not pay off and the new railroad established a depot across the San Lorenzo River at a site nicknamed "New Felton" by locals. In 1917, Felton was disincorporated, relinquishing corporate responsibilities to the county of Santa Cruz.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/sites/clerk.assembly.ca.gov/files/archive/Statutes/1917/17Vol1_Chapters.pdf|title=Stats. 1917, Ch. 109, Sec. 1.|publisher=[[California Secretary of State]]|access-date=17 October 2020}}</ref>

In 1927, the Felton community of [[Lompico, California]], was established.<ref>{{cite web | author = Lompico.org | url = http://www.lompico.org/history.html | title = Lompico History | access-date = 2009-05-24 | archive-date = 2009-04-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090406060020/http://lompico.org/history.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In 1963, the steam-powered Roaring Camp Railroad began tourist operations on the Big Trees Ranch out of the Old Felton Depot.<ref name="rcr">{{cite web
  | title = A Roaring Ride Through Redwoods
  | date = 20 August 1989
 | publisher = LA Times,August 20, 1989, Michelle and Tom Grimm
  | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-20-tr-1061-story.html}}</ref> The company later constructed a replica logging camp and another depot farther down the property, and in 1985, took over operations on the old SPC/Southern Pacific standard gauge line to Santa Cruz.  Roaring Camp is a re-creation of an 1880s logging camp and home to the original South Pacific Coast (later Southern Pacific) Felton depot and freight shed, as well as two unique railroads&nbsp;— the [[Roaring Camp and Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad]], a steam-powered line up Bear Mountain, and the [[Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway]].

Felton is home to the [[Felton Covered Bridge]], an 80-foot-long [[covered bridge]] over the [[San Lorenzo River]] built in 1892 and placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1973.

Scenes from the 1975 Disney movie "Escape to Witch Mountain" were filmed in Felton.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-21 |title=Escape To Witch Mountain (1975) |url=https://www.set-jetter.com/ontheset/escapetowitchmountain |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=Set-Jetter |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Trout Farm Inn was located in Felton. It burned down on June 5, 2016. It reopened in 2022.<ref>{{cite web | author = Santa Cruz Sentinel | url = http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20160605/NEWS/160609882 | title = Kitchen fire burns Felton Trout Farm Inn to the ground | access-date = 2018-02-24}}</ref>

The local high school is San Lorenzo Valley High School. The 2007 boys basketball team won the only Boys Basketball SCCAL Championship in school history. Led by five players who all went to elementary school at the now closed Quail Hollow School. Scott Krueger, Josh Payne, Kyle Morris, Clint Gorman and Taylor West were known as the “Quail Hollow 5.” Their success was helped by the students who would regularly attend their games and called themselves, “The Red Sea.”

On August 20, 2020 at 8:00 AM Pacific Time, due to the [[CZU Lightning Complex fires|CZU Lightning Incident fires of 2020]], Felton was ordered to evacuate by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=CALFIRECZU |number=1296467128464310273|date=August 20, 2020|title=CZU Lightning Incident NEW Evacuation Orders for Santa Cruz county}}</ref>

==Demographics==

{{US Census population
|1880= 271
|1890= 259
|1960= 1380
|1970= 2062
|1980= 4564
|1990= 5350
|2000= 5273
|2010= 4057
|2020= 4489
|footnote=source:<ref name="hist-pop">{{cite web|author = Santa Cruz Public Libraries|url = http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/426/|title = Population Statistics for Santa Cruz County and Cities, 1850-2000|access-date = 2009-05-24|archive-date = 2009-12-26|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091226234107/http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/426/|url-status = dead}}</ref>
}}

===2020===
The [[2020 United States census|2020 United States Census]]<ref name=":0" /> reported that Felton had a population of 8,003. [This section needs expanded]

===2010===
The [[2010 United States Census]]<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/2010census/popmap/ipmtext.php?fl=06:0623826|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140715024838/http://www.census.gov/2010census/popmap/ipmtext.php?fl=06:0623826|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 15, 2014|title=2010 Census Interactive Population Search: CA - Felton CDP|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=July 12, 2014}}</ref> reported that Felton had a population of 4,057. The population density was {{convert|891.2|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of Felton was 3,691 (91.0%) [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 25 (0.6%) [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 29 (0.7%) [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 69 (1.7%) [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 11 (0.3%) [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 60 (1.5%) from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 172 (4.2%) from two or more races.  [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 283 persons (7.0%).

The Census reported that 99.4% of the population lived in households and 0.6% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.

There were 1,700 households, out of which 450 (26.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 795 (46.8%) were [[marriage|opposite-sex married couples]] living together, 124 (7.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 69 (4.1%) had a male householder with no wife present.  There were 154 (9.1%) [[POSSLQ|unmarried opposite-sex partnerships]], and 27 (1.6%) [[same-sex partnerships|same-sex married couples or partnerships]]. 474 households (27.9%) were made up of individuals, and 130 (7.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37.  There were 988 [[family (U.S. Census)|families]] (58.1% of all households); the average family size was 2.89.

The population was spread out, with 738 people (18.2%) under the age of 18, 300 people (7.4%) aged 18 to 24, 1,048 people (25.8%) aged 25 to 44, 1,560 people (38.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 411 people (10.1%) who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 44.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.1 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.5 males.

There were 1,895 housing units at an average density of {{convert|416.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}, of which 69.5% were owner-occupied and 30.5% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.0%. 72.8% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 26.6% lived in rental housing units.
[[File:Covered Bridge Park.jpg|thumb|Felton Covered Bridge Park]]

===2000===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 1,051 people and 517 households in the CDP.  The population density was {{convert|1,133.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 173 housing units at an average density of {{convert|189.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.58% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.67% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.57% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 1.43% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.10% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 3.33% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 3.33% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 7.14% of the population.

There were 393 households, out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.1 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.4 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $48,102, and the median income for a family was $55,625. Males had a median income of $35,833 versus $26,346 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $21,488.  About 8.3% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 20.0% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

==Government==
In the [[California State Legislature]], Felton is in {{Representative|casd|17|fmt=sdistrict}}, and in {{Representative|caad|29|fmt=adistrict}}.<ref>{{Cite web
 | url = http://statewidedatabase.org/gis/gis2011/index_2011.html
 | title = Statewide Database
 | publisher = UC Regents
 | access-date = December 30, 2014}}</ref>

In the [[United States House of Representatives]], Felton is in {{Representative|cacd|18|fmt=district}}.<ref>{{Cite GovTrack|CA|18|accessdate=March 14, 2013}}</ref>

==Economy==
A [[Graniterock]] quarry is located in Felton. As well as a Granite Construction Quarry and Asphalt Plant<ref>{{cite web|title=Santa Cruz County Quarries|url=http://www.sccoplanning.com/PlanningHome/Environmental/Quarries.aspx|website=County of Santa Cruz|access-date= February 6, 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Monterey Bay Area}}
{{Santa Cruz County, California}}
{{California Central Coast}}
{{California}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in Santa Cruz County, California]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in California]]
[[Category:1875 establishments in California]]