Darwin, California

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Downtown Darwin in 2003

File:Another look at Darwin While Driving into Town.jpg

Darwin in 2020

Darwin is an unincorporated mining community and Census-designated place in Inyo County, California, United States. It is located Template:Convert southeast of Keeler.<ref name=CGN>Template:California's Geographic Names</ref> The population was 43 at the 2010 census, down from 54 at the 2000 census.

History

The town is named after Darwin French (1822–1902), a local rancher, miner, and explorer.

According to Erwin Gudde, French of Fort Tejon was with a party of prospectors in the area during the fall of 1850. French also led a party into Death Valley in 1860 to search for the mythical Gunsight Lode via the local wash, lending his first name to the wash, canyon, and future town.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Silver and lead discovery at the place led to the founding of a settlement in 1874.<ref name=CGN /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A post office opened in 1875, closed for a time in 1902, and remains open.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The town prospered when Eichbaum Toll Road opened in 1926, opening Death Valley from the west. When Death Valley became a National Monument in 1933, it was decided to buy the toll road to allow free access to the new park. In 1937, a new cutoff bypassed Darwin, isolating the town.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The town was the subject of a 2011 documentary film Darwin. In April 2012, BBC News featured a video of local residents describing their wishes to replace dial-up Internet access with broadband.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of Template:Convert, all of it land. The census definition of the area was created by the Census Bureau for statistical purposes and may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name.

Demographics

Template:US Census population For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Darwin as a census-designated place (CDP).

The 2020 United States census reported that Darwin had a population of 36. The population density was Template:Convert. The racial makeup of Darwin was 34 (94%) non-Hispanic white and 2 (6%) Native American.<ref name=DP1>Template:Cite web</ref>

The whole population lived in households. There were 24 households, out of which 4 (17%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 8 (33%) were married-couple households, 6 (25%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 10 (42%) had a male householder with no partner present. 11 households (45.8%) were one person, and 6 (25.0%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.5.<ref name=DP1/> There were 10 families (41.7% of all households).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The age distribution was 0 people (0%) under the age of 18, 1 person (3%) aged 18 to 24, 6 people (17%) aged 25 to 44, 18 people (50%) aged 45 to 64, and 11 people (31%) who were 65Template:Nbspyears of age or older. The median age was 61.5Template:Nbspyears. There were 25 males and 11 females.<ref name=DP1/>

There were 46 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert, of which 24 (52%) were occupied. Of these, 14 (58%) were owner-occupied, and 10 (42%) were occupied by renters.<ref name=DP1/>

Government

In the state legislature, Darwin is in Template:Representative,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Template:Representative.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Federally, Darwin is in Template:Representative.<ref>Template:Cite GovTrack</ref>

References

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