List of counties in California

The U.S. state of California is divided into 58 counties. Counties are responsible for local services and law enforcement for areas within their borders that are not within incorporated cities, as well as providing local-level courts.

First establishment of California counties

On January 4, 1850, the California constitutional committee recommended the formation of 18 counties. They were Benicia, Butte, Fremont, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Monterey, Mount Diablo, Oro, Redding, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Sutter. On April 22, the counties of Branciforte, Calaveras, Coloma, Colusi, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Trinity, and Yuba were added. Benicia was renamed Solano, Coloma to El Dorado, Fremont to Yola, Mt. Diablo to Contra Costa, San Jose to Santa Clara, Oro to Tuolumne, and Redding to Shasta. One of the first state legislative acts regarding counties was to rename Branciforte County to Santa Cruz, Colusi to Colusa, and Yola to Yolo.

The last Californian county to have been established is Imperial County, California in 1907.

List of California counties

The present number of counties was achieved over time by subdivision of many of the larger counties into smaller ones. The original counties formed in 1850 are marked in the 'created' column with an asterisk (*).

List of 58 counties in the U.S. state of California (the links in the column FIPS County Code are to the Census Bureau Info page for that county):

History of county creations and modifications

State Abbr.	FIPS State Code	State
CA	06	California
	FIPS County Code	County Name	Formed	History
	001	Alameda County	1853	from parts of Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties
	003	Alpine County	1864	from parts of Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties
	005	Amador County	1854	from parts of Calaveras and El Dorado. Part of the county's territory went to Alpine County in 1864

State Abbr.	FIPS State Code	State
CA	06	California
	FIPS County Code	County Name	Formed	History
	007	Butte County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Plumas County in 1854 and to Tehama in 1856
	009	Calaveras County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Amador County in 1854 and to Alpine in 1864
	011	Colusa County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Tehama County in 1856 and to Glenn in 1891
	013	Contra Costa County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Alameda County in 1853
	015	Del Norte County	1857	from parts of Klamath County
	017	El Dorado County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Amador County in 1854 and to Alpine County in 1864
	019	Fresno County	1856	from parts of Mariposa, Merced and Tulare. Part of the county's territory went to Mono County in 1861 and to Madera in 1893
	021	Glenn County	1891	from parts of Colusa
	023	Humboldt County	1853	from parts of Trinity
	025	Imperial County	1907	from parts of San Diego. The most recent county formed.
	027	Inyo County	1866	from parts of Mono and Tulare
	029	Kern County	1866	from parts of Los Angeles and Tulare
	031	Kings County	1893	from parts of Tulare
	033	Lake County	1861	from parts of Napa
	035	Lassen County	1864	from parts of Plumas and Shasta
	037	Los Angeles County	*	One of the original counties. Parts of the county's territory went to San Bernardino County 1853, Kern in 1866 and Orange in 1889
	039	Madera County	1893	from parts of Fresno
	041	Marin County	*	One of the original counties
	043	Mariposa County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Tulare County in 1852, Merced in 1855, Fresno in 1856 and Mono in 1861. Mariposa County was the largest of the state's original counties, but territory that was once part of Mariposa is now part of 12 other counties -- Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Merced, Mono, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, and Tulare.
	045	Mendocino County	*	One of the original counties.
	047	Merced County	1855	from parts of Mariposa. Part of the county's territory went to Fresno in 1856
	049	Modoc County	1855	from parts of Siskiyou
	051	Mono County	1861	from parts of Calaveras, Fresno and Mariposa. Part of the county's territory went to Inyo in 1866
	053	Monterey County	—	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to San Benito in 1874
	055	Napa County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Lake in 1861
	057	Nevada County	1851	from parts of Yuba County
	059	Orange County	1889	from parts of Los Angeles County
	061	Placer County	1851	from parts of Sutter and Yuba Counties
	063	Plumas County	1854	from parts of Butte County. Part of the county's territory went to Lassen in 1864
	065	Riverside County	1893	from parts of San Bernardino and San Diego Counties
	067	Sacramento County	*	One of the original counties
	069	San Benito County	1874	from parts of Monterey County
	071	San Bernardino County	1853	from parts of Los Angeles County. Part of the county's territory went to Riverside in 1893
	073	San Diego County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Riverside in 1893 and to Imperial in 1907
	075	San Francisco County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to San Mateo in 1856
	077	San Joaquin County	*	One of the original counties
	079	San Luis Obispo County	*	One of the original counties
	081	San Mateo County	1856	from part of San Francisco County
	083	Santa Barbara County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Ventura in 1872
	085	Santa Clara County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Alameda in 1853
	087	Santa Cruz County	*	One of the original counties
	089	Shasta County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Siskiyou in 1852, to Tehama in 1856 and to Lassen in 1864
	091	Sierra County	1852	from part of Yuba County
	093	Siskiyou County	1852	from parts of Shasta and Klamath. Part of the county's territory went to Modoc in 1855
	095	Solano County	*	One of the original counties
	097	Sonoma County	*	One of the original counties
	099	Stanislaus County	1854	from part of Tuolumne
	101	Sutter County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Placer in 1851
	103	Tehama County	1856	from parts of Butte, Colusa and Shasta
	105	Trinity County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Klamath in 1852 and to Humboldt in 1853
	107	Tulare County	1852	from part of Mariposa. Part of the county's territory went to Fresno in 1856, to Kern in 1866, to Inyo in 1866 and to Kings in 1893
	109	Tuolumne County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Stanislaus in 1854 and to Alpine in 1864
	111	Ventura County	1872	from part of Santa Barbara
	113	Yolo County	*	One of the original counties
	115	Yuba County	*	One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Placer in 1851, to Nevada in 1851 and to Sierra in 1852

Defunct counties

Klamath County was created in 1851 from the northern half of Trinity County, but in 1874 it was divided between Humboldt and Siskiyou counties. Part of the county's territory went to Del Norte in 1857
Pautah County was created in 1852 out of territory which, the state of California assumed, was to be ceded to it by the United States Congress from territory in what is now the state of Nevada. When the cession never occurred, the state legislature officially abolished the never-created county in 1859.

External links

Lists of U.S. counties | California counties

Gourt Home::Gourt :: List of counties in California

First establishment of California counties

List of California counties

History of county creations and modifications

Defunct counties

See also

External links