Sutter Creek

Sutter Creek (formerly spelled Sutter's Creek and Suttercreek; formerly named Suttersville) is a city in Amador County, California, United States. The population was 2,646 at the 2020 census, up from 2,501 at the 2010 census. It is accessible via State Route 49.

History

The community takes its name from nearby Sutter Creek, which in turn has the name of early California developer John Sutter.

Sutter's discovery of gold at nearby Coloma in January 1848 triggered the California Gold Rush. After all his workers left him to go on their own hunts for gold, Sutter moved to Mormon Island with a couple of hands. After about two weeks miners flooded the island, so Sutter and his hands left and returned to Sutter Creek. Sutter said: "I broke up the camp and started on the march further south, and located my next camp on Sutter Creek, now in Amador County, and thought that I should be there alone. The work was going on well for a while, until three or four traveling grog-shops surrounded me, at from one-half to ten miles (16 km) distance from the camp. Then, of course, the gold was taken to these places, for drinking, gambling, etc., and then the following day they were sick and unable to work, and became deeper and more indebted to me, particularly the Kanakas ative Hawaiians" Shortly thereafter Sutter moved out of Sutter Creek and back to his fort.

Sutter Creek became a destination for fortune hunters. A post office was established in 1852, and Sutter Creek became a town in 1854 that incorporated in 1913.

Although plenty of placer gold was found there, gold-bearing quartz deposits were discovered in 1851, and mining those deposits for gold became the mainstay of the local economy for many years. With the prosperity brought by quartz mining, Sutter Creek became a boomtown. By 1932, the Central Eureka mine, begun in 1869, had reached the level. By 1939, it was the best-paying mine in Sutter Creek. The mines continued operations until 1942, when most gold mines were closed for manpower reasons during World War II.

Today, Sutter Creek is a tourist town with many shops and restaurants. The town itself is registered as California Historical Landmark #322.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.6 square miles (6.6 km), all of it land.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Sutter Creek has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. Summers are long and hot, while winters are cool but relatively short. As typical of mediterranean climates, precipitation is concentrated to winter months, with summers being extremely dry.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Sutter Creek had a population of 2,646. The population density was . The racial makeup of Sutter Creek was 81.9% White, 0.6% African American, 2.2% Native American, 2.0% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 2.9% from other races, and 10.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.8% of the population.

There were 1,265 households, out of which 26.0% included children under the age of 18, 40.2% were married-couple households, 6.2% were cohabiting couple households, 34.4% had a female householder with no partner present, and 19.2% had a male householder with no partner present. 37.3% of households were one person, and 21.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.09. There were 720 families (56.9% of all households).

The age distribution was 18.7% under the age of 18, 6.7% aged 18 to 24, 20.0% aged 25 to 44, 25.6% aged 45 to 64, and 29.0% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 49.2years. For every 100 females, there were 87.4 males.

There were 1,428 housing units at an average density of , of which 1,265 (88.6%) were occupied. Of these, 55.5% were owner-occupied, and 44.5% were occupied by renters.

Politics

In the state legislature Sutter Creek is in , and . Federally, Sutter Creek is in . The city, as well as Amador County as a whole, consistently votes Republican.

Landmarks

Sutter Creek has two buildings on the National Register of Historic Places
* Knight Foundry
*Sutter Creek Grammar School

Notable people

* F. Carlton Ball (1911–1992), multidisciplinary artist, author, and educator, born in Sutter Creek.
* Charles B. Hanford (1859–1926), Shakespearean actor, born in Sutter Creek.
* Leland Stanford was one of Sutter Creek's most famous residents.
* John Vukovich, MLB player for various teams, grew up in Sutter Creek and attended Amador High School.

High schools

Sutter Creek is home to Amador High School. It has fewer than 1000 students and competes athletically in the Mother Lode League of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.

References

*

External links

Sutter Creek
Government home page

Sutter Creek
Community home page

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Cities in Amador County, California
Mining communities of the California Gold Rush
California Historical Landmarks
John Sutter
Incorporated cities and towns in California
1848 establishments in California
Populated places established in 1848