Markleeville, California
Markleeville | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) | |
 Location in Alpine County and the state of California | |
  Markleeville Location in California  Markleeville Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 38°41′42″N 119°46′49″W / 38.69500°N 119.78028°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  California |
| County | Alpine |
| Government | |
| • State Senate | Megan Dahle (R)[1] |
| • State Assembly | Joe Patterson (R)[2] |
| • U.S. Congress | Mike Thompson (D)[3] |
| Area | |
• Total | 6.531 sq mi (16.915 km2) |
| • Land | 6.531 sq mi (16.915 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) 0% |
| Elevation | 5,531 ft (1,686 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 191 |
| • Density | 29/sq mi (11/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code | 96120 |
| Area code | 530 |
| FIPS code | 06-45988 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 1659065, 2408184 |
Markleeville (formerly, Markleville)[5] is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Alpine County, California, United States. The population was 191 at the 2020 census,[6] down from 210 at the 2010 census.
History
[edit]
Jacob J. Marklee founded a toll bridge crossing the Carson River in 1861. He aimed to tap into the traffic from the silver mining boom at Silver Mountain City. On June 23, 1862, he recorded a land claim of 160 acres in Douglas County, Nevada. A boundary survey took place, and the property ended up being in California. In 1863, Marklee died after being involved in a gunfight. When the Comstock Lode discovery took place, the town of Markleeville was founded on the Marklee property.[7] Today, the Alpine County Courthouse sits on the former property, which is listed as a California Historical Landmark.[8]
A post office opened in Markleeville in 1863.[5]
Geography
[edit]According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.5 square miles (17 km2), all land. The region comprising Markleeville is Alpine in appearance, with lush grassy valley areas. There is a hot spring, and a state park with a campground. Excellent hiking trails abound.
Climate
[edit]According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Markleeville has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csb on climate maps, though it approaches a Humid continental climate (Dsb).
Markleeville has warm to hot summers with only occasional rainfall, mostly from afternoon and evening thunderstorms; nights are usually well below 50 °F (10 °C). Winters are somewhat cold and often snowy. The average January temperatures are a maximum of 45.7 °F or 7.6 °C and a minimum of 17.4 °F or −8.1 °C. The average July temperatures are a maximum of 84.5 °F (29.2 °C) and a minimum of 43.1 °F or 6.2 °C. There are an average of 15.7 afternoons with highs of 90 °F or 32.2 °C or higher and an average of 221.7 mornings with lows of 32 °F or 0 °C or lower, including 5.4 mornings falling to or below 0 °F or −17.8 °C, and 8.1 afternoons that do not top freezing. The record high temperature was 102 °F (38.9 °C) on July 11, 1931. The record low temperature was −25 °F (−31.7 °C) on December 22, 1990.
Average annual precipitation is 19.18 inches or 487.2 millimetres. There are an average of 59 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest calendar year was 1996 with 38.35 inches (974.1 mm) and the driest year was 1917 with 11.74 inches (298.2 mm). The most precipitation in one month occurred in January 1914 with 16.13 inches (409.7 mm). The most precipitation in 24 hours was 4.72 inches (119.9 mm) on December 3, 1950. Average annual snowfall is 82.9 inches or 2.11 metres, and snow depths of over 60 inches or 1.52 metres were recorded during the very cold months of January 1916 and February 1922 – the average depth of snow on the ground in January being 8 inches or 0.20 metres. The snowiest year was 1916 with 144.0 inches (3.66 m), including 99.0 inches (2.51 m) in January 1916.[9]
| Climate data for Markleeville, California (045356) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 66 (19) |
69 (21) |
80 (27) |
82 (28) |
90 (32) |
94 (34) |
102 (39) |
101 (38) |
98 (37) |
87 (31) |
75 (24) |
67 (19) |
102 (39) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 45.7 (7.6) |
46.9 (8.3) |
53.8 (12.1) |
58.9 (14.9) |
66.4 (19.1) |
75.6 (24.2) |
84.5 (29.2) |
84.7 (29.3) |
77.8 (25.4) |
67.0 (19.4) |
53.4 (11.9) |
44.6 (7.0) |
63.3 (17.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 17.4 (−8.1) |
19.0 (−7.2) |
23.5 (−4.7) |
27.1 (−2.7) |
33.1 (0.6) |
38.1 (3.4) |
43.1 (6.2) |
42.1 (5.6) |
35.5 (1.9) |
28.1 (−2.2) |
21.8 (−5.7) |
16.3 (−8.7) |
28.8 (−1.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −20 (−29) |
−21 (−29) |
−15 (−26) |
9 (−13) |
10 (−12) |
24 (−4) |
26 (−3) |
25 (−4) |
18 (−8) |
6 (−14) |
−7 (−22) |
−25 (−32) |
−25 (−32) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.72 (94) |
3.14 (80) |
2.10 (53) |
1.26 (32) |
0.99 (25) |
0.60 (15) |
0.39 (9.9) |
0.46 (12) |
0.47 (12) |
0.93 (24) |
2.11 (54) |
3.01 (76) |
19.18 (486.9) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 21.8 (55) |
19.2 (49) |
13.1 (33) |
4.8 (12) |
1.4 (3.6) |
0.2 (0.51) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.1 (0.25) |
0.6 (1.5) |
5.6 (14) |
16.1 (41) |
82.9 (209.86) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch) | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 60 |
| Source: Western Regional Climate Center[10] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
[edit]The 2020 United States census reported that Markleeville had a population of 191. The population density was 29.2 inhabitants per square mile (11.3/km2). The racial makeup of Markleeville was 90.1% White, 1.0% African American, 0.0% Native American, 1.6% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 2.1% from other races, and 5.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.7% of the population.
All of the population lived in households.
There were 96 households, out of which 20.8% included children under the age of 18, 31.3% were married-couple households, 6.3% were cohabiting couple households, 21.9% had a female householder with no partner present, and 40.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 52.1% of households were one person, and 33.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.99. There were 42 families (43.8% of all households).
The age distribution was 13.6% under the age of 18, 7.9% aged 18 to 24, 12.0% aged 25 to 44, 37.2% aged 45 to 64, and 29.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 57.6 years. There were 110 males and 81 females.
There were 184 housing units at an average density of 28.2 units per square mile (10.9 units/km2), of which 96 (52.2%) were occupied. Of these, 81.3% were owner-occupied, and 18.8% were occupied by renters.[11][12]
Arts and culture
[edit]Markleeville hosts an annual bicycle ride called the Death Ride - Tour of the California Alps.[13] The route goes over five passes for a total distance of 129 miles and over 15,000 feet of elevation gain. In 2010 3,500 riders participated and 2,417 completed the full course of 5 mountain passes.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "Senators". State of California. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ "Members Assembly". State of California. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ "California's 4th Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ U.S. Census Archived 2012-01-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, California: Word Dancer Press. p. 1182. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
- ^ "Markleeville CDP, California". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- ^ "Marklee's Cabin Site (No. 240 California Historical Landmark)". Sierra Nevada Geotourism MapGuide. National Geographic. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
- ^ "Marklee's Cabin Site". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
- ^ "MARKLEEVILLE, CALIFORNIA - Climate Summary".
- ^ "Period of Record Monthly Climate Summary". Western Regional Climate Center. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
- ^ "Markleeville CDP, California; DP1: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - 2020 Census of Population and Housing". US Census Bureau. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
- ^ "Markleeville CDP, California; P16: Household Type - 2020 Census of Population and Housing". US Census Bureau. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
- ^ "Course - Death Ride". Death Ride. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ^ "Rider Stats - Death Ride". Death Ride. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
Municipalities and communities of Alpine County, California, United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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