Cohasset, California

Cohasset (formerly known as Keefers Ridge and North Point) is a census-designated place in Butte County, California, United States, approximately NNE of Chico, California. The name derives from the Algonquian Indian language and means "long rocky place". The population was 830 at the 2020 census.

The town is a mountain community at above mean sea level. It sits on Cohasset Ridge: an eleven-mile (18 km) ridge running roughly southwest-to-northeast. The U.S. Geological Survey feature ID is 1655909 and NAD27 coordinates for the community are . The ZIP Code for the community is 95973, which is shared with about seven other nearby towns, and the area code 530.

In late July 2024, the town of Cohasset was significantly impacted and partially destroyed by the Park Fire with no recorded fatalities. The town has since been repopulated.

The primary airport is the Chico Municipal Airport.

History

In the mid-19th century the local lumber and farming operations began, prior to which the Maidu inhabited the area for many generations. By the early 20th century, Cohasset was famous for its high quality apples. Today, they are better known for peaceful country living, the Annual Cohasset Bazaar, and the beauty of the Cohasset Ridge. A post office operated at Cohasset from 1888 to 1920. The early lumbermen designated the ridge after the pineries. A school district was formed July 16, 1878 to provide a place of learning for the children of the growing number of pioneer families and was given the name of North Point District. The entire ridge came to be known by the name of North Point. In 1887, the ridge residents requested the United States Government to establish a post office there, to be named North Point. The Post Office Department concurred in the need of a postal facility but balked at the requested name. There were already too many stations in the country with either North or Point in their names so it was requested that another name be selected. For a name selecting committee two young ladies of the ridge, Miss Marie Wilson and Miss Electa Welch (the school teacher) were appointed and they chose the name Cohasset, meaning "City of Pines" in the Algonquin Indian language. There was a precedent for this in Cohasset, Massachusetts, a charming resort town of pines and rocks located on the seacoast southeast of Boston. The new name was satisfactory and the first Cohasset, California post office was established February 20, 1888.

Demographics

Cohasset first appeared as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. Census.

The 2020 United States census reported that Cohasset had a population of 830. The population density was . The racial makeup of Cohasset was 87.6% White, 0.4% African American, 1.7% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.4% from other races, and 7.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.0% of the population.

The whole population lived in households, no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters and no one was institutionalized.

There were 368 households, out of which 18.8% included children under the age of 18, 47.8% were married-couple households, 6.0% were cohabiting couple households, 17.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 29.1% had a male householder with no partner present. 34.5% of households were one person, and 16.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.26. There were 220 families (59.8% of all households).

The age distribution was 17.6% under the age of 18, 5.3% aged 18 to 24, 20.4% aged 25 to 44, 29.5% aged 45 to 64, and 27.2% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 50.3years. For every 100 females, there were 115.6 males.

There were 427 housing units at an average density of , of which 368 (86.2%) were occupied. Of these, 85.3% were owner-occupied, and 14.7% were occupied by renters.

Government

State

The citizens of Cohasset, as constituents of California's 1st Assembly District, are represented by in the California State Assembly, and as members of California's 4th Senate District, are represented by in the California State Senate.

Federal

Cohasset is in .

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Cohasset has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Cohasset, California
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Education

It is in the Chico Unified School District.
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References

* US Geological Survey, National Geographic Names Database.
* Map: ''Cohasset, California, 7.5 minute quadrangle'', 1995, US Geological Survey.
* US Census Bureau, 2000 census statistical area records.

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Census-designated places in Butte County, California
Census-designated places in California