Grass Valley is a city in Nevada County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States. Situated at roughly in elevation in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, this northern

Gold Country The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines ...

city is by car from

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, from Sacramento International Airport, west of

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, and northeast of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

, its population was 12,860.

History

Grass Valley, which was originally known as Boston Ravine and later named Centerville, dates from the California Gold Rush, as does nearby Nevada City. Gold was discovered at Gold Hill in October 1850 and population grew around the mine. When a post office was established in 1851, it was renamed Grass Valley the next year for unknown reasons. The town incorporated in 1860. The essential history of Grass Valley mining belongs to the North Star, Empire and Idaho-Maryland mines, for continuous production over a span of years. From 1868 until 1900, the Idaho-Maryland mine was the most productive in the district. From 1900 until 1925, the North Star and the Empire produced the most gold in the county. In 1932, the Empire and North Star were physically connected at the 4600-foot level and 5300-foot level. Grass Valley has the Empire Mine and

North Star Mine The North Star Mine and Powerhouse are located on Lafayette Hill a short distance south of Grass Valley in the U.S. state of California. It was the second largest producer of gold during California's Gold Rush. In 1898, the largest Pelton wheel ...

, two of California's richest mines. George Starr, manager of the Empire Mine, and

William Bowers Bourn II William Bowers Bourn II (31 May 1857 – 5 July 1936) was an American entrepreneur and socialite. Bourn ran and controlled the Empire Mine and the San Francisco Gas Company, he was an investor in Spring Valley Water Company, and he led a merger t ...

, the owner, donated mine property which became Memorial Park.McQuiston, F.W., 1986, Gold: The Saga of the Empire Mine, 1850-1956, Grass Valley:Empire Mine Park Association, Wiliam Bourn Jr. had taken over management of the Empire Mine in 1878 after his father's death, replacing water power with steam. In 1884, Bourn purchased and rejuvenated the North Star mine. The Idaho and Maryland mines were consolidated by Samuel P. Dorsey in 1893. In 1925, Errol MacBoyle acquired the Idaho-Maryland. By 1938, the Idaho-Maryland was the second largest gold producer in the country. However, gold mining operations in the area ended during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, due to

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Su ...

Limitation Order 208. After the war, renewed operations were attempted, but according to Gage McKinney, "...by the mid-1950s mining was no longer profitable in what had been the richest gold mining district in California." Many of those who came to settle in Grass Valley were tin miners from

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, United Kingdom. Most arrived between 1860 and 1895, composing three quarters of Grass Valley's population. Grass Valley still holds on to its Cornish heritage, with events such as its annual Cornish Christmas and St Piran's Day celebrations. Cornish pasties are a local favorite dish with a few restaurants in town specializing in recipes handed down from the original immigrant generation. Grass Valley is also twinned with Bodmin in

(UK). There was formerly a (short-lived)

Roman Catholic Diocese of Grass Valley The Diocese of Grass Valley ( la, Dioecesis Vallispratensis) now a titular see, was formerly a residential diocese of the Catholic Church located in northeastern California, United States. The diocese also included most of Nevada, and, early in its ...

in 1868-1884, later relocated in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

(and now a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

). The Grass Valley K-Mart store was one of the nation's few remaining still open and the last one in California. It closed in 2021.

Geography

Grass Valley is located at (39.219215, -121.058414). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the city has an area of , all of it land. A variety of

igneous Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...

and

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...

rock supports Grass Valley.

Granitic A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quartz- ...

rock such as

quartz diorite Quartz diorite is an igneous, plutonic ( intrusive) rock, of felsic composition, with phaneritic texture. Feldspar is present as plagioclase (typically oligoclase or andesine) with 10% or less potassium feldspar. Quartz Quartz is a hard, ...

underlies the downtown core and extends south along Highway 49. Metavolcanic rock and diabase underlie areas around the granitic zone. Neighborhoods around Nevada County Golf Course and Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital are underlain by

ultramafic rock Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are igneous and meta-igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are composed ...

which supports infertile soils of the Dubakella series. Here the vegetation is sparse considering the high average annual precipitation, with much grassland, and forested areas are often dominated by several species of oaks and the crooked, thin-crowned

gray pine ''Pinus sabiniana'' (sometimes spelled ''P. sabineana''), with vernacular names including towani pine, foothill pine, gray pine, bull pine, and digger pine, is a pine endemic to California in the United States. Some sources discourage using the n ...

. Luxuriant forest dominated by straight, dense

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

inhabits the more fertile soils, which include Musick series on granitic rock and Sites series on mafic or metamorphic rock.

Climate

Grass Valley has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

Csa) with warm to hot, dry summers and wet, cool, rainy winters. Summer is very dry, but thunderstorms may occur. Winter rains contribute to a heavy fuel-loading of brush and grass, which dry out during the summer, posing a wildfire hazard. Snow occurs at times. Over the course of a year, 36.4 days of or hotter and 0.9 days of or hotter occur, with 61.4 days with minimum of or colder.

Demographics

2010

The

reported that Grass Valley had a population of 12,860. The population density was . The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of Grass Valley was 11,493 (89.4%) White, 208 (1.6%) Native American, 188 (1.5%) Asian, 46 (0.4%) African American, 9 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 419 (3.3%) from other races, and 497 (3.9%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 1,341 persons (10.4%). The census reported that 12,401 people (96.4% of the population) lived in households, 118 (0.9%) lived in noninstitutionalized group quarters, and 341 (2.7%) were institutionalized. Of the 6,077 households, 1,544 (25.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,665 (27.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 980 (16.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, and 316 (5.2%) had a male householder with no wife present, 466 (7.7%) were unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 33 (0.5%) were same-sex married couples or partnerships. About 2,605 households (42.9%) were made up of individuals, and 1,415 (23.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04. The 2,961

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

(48.7% of all households) had an average family size of 2.78. The population was distributed as 2,625 people (20.4%) under the age of 18, 1,146 people (8.9%) aged 18 to 24, 2,882 people (22.4%) aged 25 to 44, 3,183 people (24.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 3,024 people (23.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.5 males. The 6,637 housing units averaged 1,399.3 per square mile (540.3/km), of which 2,391 (39.3%) were owner-occupied, and 3,686 (60.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.7%; 4,663 people (36.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 7,738 people (60.2%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the census of 2000, 10,922 people, 5,016 households, and 2,678 families resided in the city. The population density was . Of the 5,016 households, 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.4% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were not families. About 39.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.80 people. The median income for a household in the city was $28,182, and for a family was $33,220. Males had a median income of $32,568 versus $21,915 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $16,877. About 12.9% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 20.0% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Grass Valley has been a charter city since it was incorporated in 1893. It uses a council-manager form of government.

State and federal representation

In the California State Legislature, Grass Valley is in , and . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, Grass Valley is in .

Economy

The combined communities of Grass Valley and Nevada City have a fairly diversified economy. The Gold Rush days left a historical legacy and tourism and the related

services sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

constitute the bulk of the local economy. Many of those who do not commute to the Sacramento Valley work locally in retail, wholesale, trade, engineering, manufacturing, construction, and other businesses, as well in local and state government. A significant number of high-tech electronics companies are in the area. Another significant sector of the local economy is agriculture, as the soil in Nevada County is quite fertile. Around the time of the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

, farmers planted orchards, vegetables, and other produce as ranchers brought in cattle, sheep, and other livestock. While the proportion of land dedicated to agriculture has significantly decreased over the last few decades, agriculture continues to be an important aspect of the local economy, including organic agricultural products. Nevada County has also become known for its growing wine industry. Retail employers in Grass Valley include Raley's, Safeway,

CVS Pharmacy CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was also known as, and originally named, the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in ...

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...

, Starbucks, GNC, Jamba Juice, Staples and Hills Flat Lumber Co. Fast-food chain restaurants in Grass Valley include

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includin ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

Carl's Jr. Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC is an American fast food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc., with franchisees in North & South America, Asia, Oceania, Europe and Africa. In 2016, ''Entrepreneur'' listed Carl's Jr. as No. 54 ...

, Jimboy's Tacos and KFC. Other major employers include Nevada Union High School, Nevada Irrigation District, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, Golden Empire Nursing and Rehab Center, and Briar Patch Food Co-op. The Grass Valley Group is a media technology research and development company founded in the city in 1959.

Education

Grass Valley High School girls basketball team, 1918

Higher education

*Nevada County Campus of

Sierra College Sierra College is a public community college in Rocklin, California. It is part of the Sierra Joint Community College District, a district that covers over , serves Placer, Nevada and parts of El Dorado and Sacramento counties. History The co ...

Public primary and secondary schools

* Bear River High School *Bell Hill Academy *Bitney College Prep Charter High School *Cottage Hill Elementary School *Forest Charter School * Grass Valley Charter School *Lyman Gilmore Middle School *Magnolia Intermediate School * Nevada Union High School *Nevada City School District *Pleasant Ridge Elementary School *Scotten Elementary School *Sierra Academy of Expeditionary Learning *Union Hill Middle School *William and Marian Ghidotti Early College High School *Yuba River Charter School *Clear Creek Elementary School

Public libraries

* Josiah Royce Public Library

Transportation

Grass Valley is at the intersection of State Route 49 and State Route 20. Public transportation is served by the Gold Country Stag

and limited to the urban areas.

Designated historical landmarks

* Empire Mine State Historic Park (CHL#298) * Grass Valley Public Library (NRHP#92000267) * Holbrooke Hotel (CHL#914) * Home of Lola Montez (CHL#292) * Home of Lotta Crabtree (CHL#293) * Lyman Gilmore Middle School * Mount Saint Mary's Convent and Academy (CHL#855) * North Star Mine Powerhouse (CHL#843) * Overland Emigrant Trail (CHL#799) * Site of the First Discoveries of Quartz Gold in California (CHL#297)

Popular culture

Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalism, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U. ...

's '' Angle of Repose'' features Grass Valley.

Sister cities

Grass Valley has two sister cities: * Bodmin, Cornwall, United Kingdom * Limana, Italy

Notable people

* Sam Aanestad, dentist and politician * Patrick Brice, film director, actor * Hunter Burgan, musician * John Cardiel, professional skateboarder * Lotta Crabtree, 19th-century actress * Pete Daley, baseball player *

Jonathan Dayton Jonathan Dayton (October 16, 1760October 9, 1824) was an American Founding Father and politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey. He was the youngest person to sign the Constitution of the United States and a member of the United States Hou ...

, film director * Alonzo Delano, first city treasurer * Mary Florence Denton, educator in Japan * Matt DiBenedetto, NASCAR driver *

Brodie Farber Brodie Kyle Farber (born July 5, 1980) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division. A professional since 2002, he has competed for the UFC and WEC. Mixed martial arts career Early ca ...

, professional fighter * Arthur De Wint Foote, mining engineer * Mary Hallock Foote, author and illustrator * Lisa Mispley Fortier, NCAA WBB coach * John Arthur Gellatly,

Lieutenant Governor of Washington The lieutenant governor of Washington is an elected office in the U.S. state of Washington. The incumbent is Denny Heck, a Democrat who began his term in January 2021. The lieutenant governor serves as president of the Washington State Senate, fi ...

* Lyman Gilmore, historically significant pilot *

Justin Gross Justin M. Gross is an American voice actor. Gross is best known as the voice of Arthas Menethil in ''Warcraft III'', Ryu Hayabusa in the ''Ninja Gaiden'' games, and Steve Rogers/Captain America in the '' Ultimate Avengers'' series. He has also ...

, voiceover actor * Charles Scott Haley, mining engineer, expert in the field of placer gold deposits. * Fred Hargesheimer, World War II pilot, philanthropist * John Flint Kidder, builder, historically significant railroad owner * Sarah Kidder, historically significant railroad owner * Mark Meckler, political activist * Lola Montez, 19th-century dancer * Joanna Newsom, American singer-songwriter *

Hans Ostrom Hans Ansgar Ostrom (born January 29, 1954) is an American professor, writer, editor, and scholar. Ostrom is a professor of African American Studies and English the University of Puget Sound (1983–present), where he teaches courses on African-A ...

, writer and professor *

Jim Pagliaroni James Vincent "Pag" Pagliaroni (December 8, 1937 – April 3, 2010) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1955 to 1969 for the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics and ...

, professional baseball player *

Mike Pinder Michael Thomas Pinder (born 27 December 1941) is an English rock musician, and is a founding member and original keyboard player of the British rock group the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's ninth album '' ...

, musician * Charles H. Prisk, newspaper editor-publisher * William F. Prisk, State Senator, newspaper editor-publisher *

Chuck Ragan Charles Allen Ragan (born October 30, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the guitarist and vocalist of the band Hot Water Music. Ragan has also released a variety of solo material, including a series of 7-inches on ...

, singer, songwriter, guitarist * Dennis Richmond, news anchor *

John Rollin Ridge John Rollin Ridge (Cherokee name: Cheesquatalawny, or Yellow Bird, March 19, 1827 – October 5, 1867), a member of the Cherokee Nation, is considered the first Native American novelist. After moving to California in 1850, he began to write ...

, writer * Clint Ritchie, actor * Tim Rossovich, professional football player, actor *

Richard Roundtree Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American actor. Roundtree is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film ''Shaft'', and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2 ...

, actor *

Josiah Royce Josiah Royce (; November 20, 1855 – September 14, 1916) was an American objective idealist philosopher and the founder of American idealism. His philosophical ideas included his version of personalism, defense of absolutism, idealism and his ...

, philosopher * Gabe Ruediger, professional fighter * Chris Senn, professional skateboarder *

Jeremy Sisto Jeremy Merton Sisto (born October 6, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Billy Chenowith in HBO's '' Six Feet Under'', NYPD Detective Cyrus Lupo in NBC's ''Law & Order'', George Altman in the ABC sitcom '' Suburgatory'', ...

, actor * Meadow Sisto, actress * John Aloysius Stanton, painter, born in Grass Valley. *

, author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize * J. Christopher Stevens, assassinated U.S. ambassador to Libya, born in Grass Valley * Brad Sweet, World of Outlaws Sprint Car Driver and 3X Champion *

Clint Walker Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker (May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018) was an American actor. He played cowboy Cheyenne Bodie in the ABC/ Warner Bros. western series ''Cheyenne'' from 1955 to 1963. Early life Clint Walker was born Norman Eugene W ...

, actor * William Watt, miner, State Senator, University of California Regent

References

External links

*
''The Union'' - local newspaper

Grass Valley grocer's ledger, 1894-1895
collection. California State Library, California History Room.
Grass Valley mining helmets and equipment collection.
California State Library, California History Room. {{authority control Cities in Nevada County, California Cities in Sacramento metropolitan area Mining communities of the California Gold Rush Populated places in the Sierra Nevada (United States) Cornish-American history 1893 establishments in California Populated places established in 1893 Incorporated cities and towns in California