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Tomales 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 ...
(CDP) on State Route 1 in
Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, United States. The population was 187 at the 2020 census.


Geography

Tomales is located above Keys Creek, about northeast of
Tomales Bay Tomales Bay is a long, narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean in Marin County in northern California in the United States. Geography Tomales Bay is approximately long and averages nearly wide, with relatively shallow depths averaging 18 ft, eff ...
. The nearest city is
Petaluma Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 census. Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village named ''Péta ...
, to the east by road, and the nearest large city is
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, about 75 minutes () to the south. The CDP has a total area of , all of it land.


History

When Europeans first reached Tomales Bay, it was home to
Coast Miwok The Coast Miwok are an Indigenous people of California that were the second-largest tribe of the Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of present-day Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golde ...
people. Numerous authenticated Miwok villages are known from this area, including one (named ''Utumia'') sited near the present-day town of Tomales. The "Tomalles" post office opened in 1854, and changed its spelling to "Tomales" before 1879. Starting in the 1870s, Tomales was a stop on the
North Pacific Coast Railroad The North Pacific Coast Railroad (NPC) was a common carrier narrow-gauge steam railroad begun in 1874 and sold in 1902 to new owners who renamed it the North Shore Railroad (California) (NSR) and rebuilt the southern section into a standard-ga ...
connecting
Cazadero Cazadero may refer to: * Cazadero (volcano), a mountain in Argentina * Cazadero, California, U.S. * Cazadero, Oregon, U.S. * Cazadero Dam, a dam in the U.S. state of Oregon See also

* {{disambiguation, geo ...
to the
Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's p ...
ferry. Built near the
San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the U.S. state of California. It forms part of the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Paci ...
, Tomales was affected by the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
. One of the town's two cemeteries predates the earthquake, and the damage to the pre-1906 plots shows just how widespread the quake's effects were.


Demographics

Tomales first appeared as 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 ...
in the 2000 U.S. Census.


2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Tomales had a population of 187. The population density was . The racial makeup of Tomales was 157 (84.0%)
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 ...
, 4 (2.1%)
Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...
, 5 (2.7%) 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 ...
, 8 (4.3%) from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), ...
, and 13 (7.0%) from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...
of any race were 14 persons (7.5%). The census reported that 182 people (97.3% of the population) lived in households, 5 (2.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 86 households, out of which 17 (19.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 44 (51.2%) were married-couple households, 4 (4.7%) 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, 17 (19.8%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 21 (24.4%) had a male householder with no partner present. 22 households (25.6%) were one person, and 18 (20.9%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.12. There were 57
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 ...
(66.3% of all households). The age distribution was 16 people (8.6%) under the age of 18, 8 people (4.3%) aged 18 to 24, 38 people (20.3%) aged 25 to 44, 63 people (33.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 62 people (33.2%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 57.2years. There were 90 males and 97 females. There were 108 housing units at an average density of , of which 86 (79.6%) were occupied. Of these, 53 (61.6%) were owner-occupied, and 33 (38.4%) were occupied by renters.


2010

At the 2010 census Tomales had a population of 204. The population density was . The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.6% White, 1.5% Native American, 2.0% Asian, and 2.0% from two or more races. 4.4% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. The census reported that 100% of the population lived in households. There were 99 households, 13 (13.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 47 (47.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 9 (9.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2 (2.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 10 (10.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1 (1.0%) same-sex married couple or partnership. 32 households (32.3%) were one person and 6 (6.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.06. There were 58 families (58.6% of households); the average family size was 2.55. The age distribution was 22 people (10.8%) under the age of 18, 12 people (5.9%) aged 18 to 24, 43 people (21.1%) aged 25 to 44, 93 people (45.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 34 people (16.7%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 50.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males. There were 122 housing units at an average density of , of which 59.6% were owner-occupied and 40.4% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.0%. 61.8% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 38.2% lived in rental housing units.


2000

At the 2000 census, the median household income was $51,953 and the median family income was $52,708. Males had a median income of $41,607 versus $46,389 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $26,609. None of the families and 14.3% of the population were living 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 ...
, including no under eighteens and 14.3% of those over 64.


Education

It is in the
Shoreline Unified School District The Shoreline Unified School District serves the West Marin and Sonoma County communities stretching from the towns of Point Reyes Station and Inverness along Tomales Bay running north past the fishing port of Bodega Bay to the mouth of the Ru ...
. Shoreline USD operates Tomales Elementary School and
Tomales High School Tomales High School is located in the town of Tomales, California, United States. It is the comprehensive high school of the Shoreline Unified School District. It serves the western Marin and Sonoma County communities, stretching from the tow ...
. The high school is the largest employer in Tomales and has a student body of approximately 190 from northwest Marin County and southwest Sonoma County.


In Popular Culture

Much of the 2001 movie ''
Bandits Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, e ...
'' was filmed in and around Tomales, as were the opening shots of '' Mumford'' (1999), and parts of ''
Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream (Six Flags drop tower), at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream (roller coaster), at ...
'' (1996), and '' Village of the Damned'' (1995).John Carpenter website


References


External links


Tomales website
{{authority control Census-designated places in Marin County, California West Marin Census-designated places in California