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Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area, it forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. (Monterey County forms the southern coast). As of 2000 its population is 255,602. The county seat is Santa Cruz.

History

Santa Cruz County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood.

In the original act, the county was given the name of "Branciforte" after the Spanish pueblo founded there in 1797. Less than two months later, the name was changed to "Santa Cruz". Mission Santa Cruz, established in 1791 and completed in 1794, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1857, but a smaller-scale replica was erected in 1931. Santa Cruz means "holy cross" in Spanish.

The county is home to two of the wineries (Ridge Vineyards and David Bruce Winery) selected to compete in the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,573 km² (607 mi²). 1,153 km² (445 mi²) of it is land and 419 km² (162 mi²) of it (26.67%) is water. Of California's counties, only San Francisco is physically smaller.

The county is a strip about ten miles wide between the coast and the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains at the northern end of the Monterey Bay. It can be divided roughly into four regions: the rugged "north coast"; the urban City of Santa Cruz, Soquel, Capitola, and Aptos; mountainous Bonny Doon, San Lorenzo River Valley. ; and fertile "south county", including Watsonville. Agriculture is concentrated in the coastal lowlands of the county's northern and southern ends. Most of the coastline is flanked by cliffs.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 255,602 people, 91,139 households, and 57,144 families residing in the county. The population density was 222/km² (574/mi²). There were 98,873 housing units at an average density of 86/km² (222/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 75.09% White, 0.97% Black or African American, 0.96% Native American, 3.44% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 15.02% from other races, and 4.37% from two or more races. 26.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 91,139 households out of which 31.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.00% were married couples living together, 10.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.30% were non-families. 25.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.80% under the age of 18, 11.90% from 18 to 24, 30.80% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 10.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 99.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $53,998, and the median income for a family was $61,941. Males had a median income of $46,291 versus $33,514 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,396. About 6.70% of families and 11.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.50% of those under age 18 and 6.30% of those age 65 or over.

Environmental features

Santa Cruz County is home to the following endangered species:

Politics

Presidential elections results
Year GOP Dems
2004 24.9% ''30,354 73.0% ''89,102
2000 27.3% ''29,627 61.5% ''66,618
1996 26.9% ''27,766 56.5% ''58,250
1992 21.9% ''24,916 58.1% ''66,183
1988 36.8% ''37,728 61.5% ''63,133
1984 45.2% ''41,652 53.3% ''49,091
1980 43.5% ''37,347 37.7% ''32,346
1976 43.1% ''31,872 51.1% ''37,772
1972 49.9% ''34,799 46.4% ''32,336
1968 50.8% ''25,365 41.0% ''20,492
1964 41.3% ''18,836 58.5% ''26,714
1960 59.6% ''24,858 39.9% ''16,659

Transportation

Santa Cruz County is served by the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District bus system, SCMTD/Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority collaborated bus service to San Jose, California and Monterey Salinas Transit to the Watsonville station. Greyhound Lines bus service is another option for visiting Surf City.

The county has one public use general aviation airport as shown in the list of Santa Cruz airports. The nearest airports for commercial travel include San Jose International Airport, Monterey Peninsula Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Oakland International Airport.

Recreation

See: List of Birds of Santa Cruz County, California

Cities and towns

See also

Santa Cruz County winemaking and wineries

Winemaking -- both the growing of the grapes and their vinting -- is an important part of the economic and cultural life of Santa Cruz County.

The Santa Cruz vineyard of the David Bruce Winery (with vineyards in both Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties) was selected for competition in the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, which revolutionized the world of wine (Tabor, p.167-169).

Sources

  • Taber, George M. Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. NY: Scribner, 2005.

External links

San Francisco Bay Area | California counties | Santa Cruz County, California

Санта Круз (окръг) | Santa Cruz County (Kalifornien) | Comté de Santa Cruz (Californie) | Santa Cruz County (California) | Condado de Santa Cruz (Califórnia) | Santa Cruz County, Kalifornien

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Santa Cruz County, California".

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