Point Reyes Station, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Point Reyes Station is a census-designated place in northern California, in western Marin County, California, with a population of 818. The CDP covers both the unincorporated town (population 350) and the surrounding countryside. Point Reyes Station is located along California State Route 1 and is a gateway to the Point Reyes National Seashore, an extremely popular national preserve.

The town is home to the region's weekly newspaper, The Point Reyes Light, which won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its reporting on the now-defunct cult group Synanon.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Towns of rural western Marin County. Point Reyes Station is in blue.

Point Reyes Station is located at 38°4′24″N, 122°48′22″W (38.073344, -122.806022)^GR1, just south and east of the southern end of Tomales Bay, and slightly east of the San Andreas Fault just before the fault submerges down the center of Tomales Bay.

Point Reyes Station nominally borders Tomales Bay; however, a combination of dams, silting, and intentional landfill has raised the level of former salt marshes at the south end of the bay and left Point Reyes Station approximately 0.8 mile (1.3 km) from the nearest tidal flats.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 9.4 km² (3.6 mi²), all land.

[edit] History

Once land of the Coast Miwok Indians, Point Reyes Station gets its name from the nearby Point Reyes Peninsula (a major peninsula sticking out into the Pacific Ocean) and its founding status as a train station on the railroad line north along the coast.

Point Reyes Station is just 3 miles (5 km) north of Olema and the epicenter of the San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906. A faultline walking tour can be taken from the Point Reyes visitor Center.

The novelist Philip K. Dick resided in Point Reyes Station for several years, during which he wrote works including The Man in the High Castle.

Highway 1 runs through Point Reyes Station.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 818 people, 352 households, and 218 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 87.0/km² (225.1/mi²). There were 373 housing units at an average density of 39.7/km² (102.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 92.05% White, 0.61% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 3.91% from other races, and 2.93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.29% of the population.

There were 352 households out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 35.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 85.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $57,292, and the median income for a family was $69,821. Males had a median income of $41,181 versus $38,269 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $39,339. About 6.0% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.