Potter Valley is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

Mendocino County, California Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...

, United States. It is located north-northeast of Ukiah, at an elevation of at the headwaters of the East Fork Russian River. The CDP population was 665 at the 2020 census.

History

In 1852, when William and Thomas Potter and Mose Briggs first entered what would become known as Potter Valley, they were searching for the headwaters of the Russian River from their base in

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

. The

Pomo people The Pomo are a Indigenous peoples of California, Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to ...

called it ''Ba-lo Kai''. They found three Pomo villages (each about 500 people strong), the Russian headwaters, and a lush valley with wild oats "stirrup high". Eventually the Potters returned to settle there, and the valley became known by the American ranchers' name. The post office opened in 1870. Painter Grace Hudson was born in Potter Valley in 1865. In addition to his famous

Ridgewood Ranch Ridgewood Ranch is a large ranch situated south of Willits, California, in rural Mendocino County. It is probably best known for being the final resting place of the racehorse Seabiscuit. History Situated in a low mountain valley below Ridgewoo ...

Charles S. Howard Charles Stewart Howard (February 28, 1877 – June 6, 1950) was an American businessman. He made his fortune as an automobile dealer and became a prominent thoroughbred racehorse owner. Biography Howard was dubbed one of the most successful Bui ...

, owner of the racehorse

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-hors ...

, owned a ranch in Potter Valley where he ran cattle.

Geography

Potter Valley is located northeast of Ukiah and northeast of Lake Mendocino in Mendocino County, with the valley floor at roughly in elevation. The headwaters of the East Fork of the Russian River originate in the valley. The Potter Valley Project delivers additional water from the Eel River, which flows into the Russian River here via a controversial

hydroelectric plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also mo ...

that tunnels through the mountains to take advantage of the relative proximity of these two waterways. This diversion supplies a significant amount of water to inland Mendocino and Sonoma counties. Potter Valley is a rich agricultural region, with excellent soils, planted mostly in

irrigated Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has be ...

pasture,

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

s, and

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

s, but supporting a wide variety of farms and ranches. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the Potter Valley Census Designated Place (CDP) covers an area of , 99.31% of it land, and 0.69% of it water. The entire valley, which is mostly rural, has an area of roughly .

Climate

Potter Valley has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

('' Csa'') typical of the interior of

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, along with great

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diur ...

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Potter Valley had a population of 665. The population density was . The racial makeup of Potter Valley was 484 (72.8%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0 (0.0%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 12 (1.8%) Native American, 1 (0.2%) Asian, 0 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 67 (10.1%) from other races, and 101 (15.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 146 persons (22.0%). The whole population lived in households. There were 255 households, out of which 71 (27.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 121 (47.5%) were married-couple households, 18 (7.1%) were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 61 (23.9%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 55 (21.6%) had a male householder with no partner present. 77 households (30.2%) were one person, and 50 (19.6%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.61. There were 158

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(62.0% of all households). The age distribution was 176 people (26.5%) under the age of 18, 31 people (4.7%) aged 18 to 24, 165 people (24.8%) aged 25 to 44, 148 people (22.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 145 people (21.8%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 38.3years. For every 100 females, there were 112.5 males. There were 279 housing units at an average density of , of which 255 (91.4%) were occupied. Of these, 186 (72.9%) were owner-occupied, and 69 (27.1%) were occupied by renters.

Politics

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

, Potter Valley is in , and . Federally, Potter Valley is in .

References

External links

Potter Valley Bird Sightings

Potter Valley Community Unified School District

Historical weather data from the Potter Valley Pumping Station

Potter Valley Community Parks & Recreation

Potter Valley Youth & Community Center

Potter Valley Irrigation District

Potter Valley Tribe of Pomo Indians
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Mendocino County, California Populated places established in 1852 Census-designated places in California 1852 establishments in California