Cazadero, California

Cazadero (Spanish for "hunting ground") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Sonoma County, California, United States with a population of 298 in 2020. The downtown of Cazadero consists of two churches, a general store, a post office, a hardware store, an auto repair garage, private office space, and the Cazadero Volunteer Fire Department.

Cazadero Ingram's Station[1]
census-designated place & unincorporated community
Cazadero in November, 2009
Cazadero Location within the state of California
Coordinates: 38°32′0″N 123°5′7″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Sonoma
Area [2]
• Total	7.12 sq mi (18.43 km2)
• Land	7.12 sq mi (18.43 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)  0.02%
Elevation [1]	118 ft (36 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	298
• Density	41.88/sq mi (16.17/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	95421
Area code	707
FIPS code	06-12146
GNIS feature ID	220749
Website	https://www.cazadero-csd.org/

Cazadero is the general area from the confluence of Austin Creek and the Russian River at the intersection of California State Route 116 and Cazadero Highway running north to the small town of the same name. The town is approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from Route 116. Cazadero Highway parallels Austin Creek, which is a principal tributary of the lower Russian River. Located in the Sonoma Coast AVA, Cazadero can also be considered part of Wine Country.

History

Depot in Cazadero, 1890

Cazadero was the northern terminus of the North Pacific Coast Railroad, originally laid as narrow-gauge track in the 1870s. This railhead was fed by several smaller-gauge systems dedicated to logging and networks of logging roads and trails which brought trees to Duncans Mill for processing and shipment south to San Francisco. Local legend holds that much of San Francisco was rebuilt after the disastrous April 1906 earthquake and fire using redwood and other lumber from the Cazadero area. Cazadero timbers are also known to have been used in pilings sunk to support the old eastern span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (which was replaced by a new span in 2013; the old eastern span was subsequently demolished.)

Geography

Many creeks in Cazadero join Austin Creek as it makes its way to the Russian River. The principal tributary in the area is Kidd Creek, which finds its source on the southeast slopes of Pole Mountain which rises to approximately 2,204 feet (672 m) just a few miles from the Pacific coastline. Kidd Creek flows west to east in two main forks which join near the CazSonoma Inn before flowing into Austin Creek about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of town. The rapid rise in elevation from the coast to mountains west of Cazadero ensures that the area receives substantial rainfall as Pacific storms come onshore in spring and winter, releasing rain from clouds saturated with ocean moisture. Cazadero receives an average of 85 in (2,200 mm) of rain a year, and is reputed to be the second-wettest town in California, after Gasquet.^[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 7.1 square miles (18.4 km²), 99.98% of it land and 0.02% of it water. The ZIP Code covers about 216 square miles (559.4 km²).^[4]

Climate

This region includes both coastal cool and coastal warm microclimates.^[5] Coastal cool has summer highs in the 70s °F, and winter lows in the 40s °F. Coastal warm has summer highs in the 80s and 90s °F.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
2010	354		—
2020	298		−15.8%
2021 (est.)	351	[6]	17.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[7] 1850–1870[8][9] 1880-1890[10] 1900[11] 1910[12] 1920[13] 1930[14] 1940[15] 1950[16] 1960[17] 1970[18] 1980[19] 1990[20] 2000[21] 2010[22]

Race and Ethnicity

Racial and ethnic composition	2010[23]	2020[24]
White (non-Hispanic)	87.57%	86.58%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	6.5%	6.38%
Two or more races (non-Hispanic)	3.95%	4.03%
Native American (non-Hispanic)	0.85%	1.68%
Asian (non-Hispanic)	0.85%	0.67%
Other (non-Hispanic)	0.0%	0.67%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	0.28%	0.0%
Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic)	0.0%	0.0%

The 2020 United States census reported that Cazadero had a population of 298. The population density was 41.9 inhabitants per square mile (16.2/km²). The racial makeup of Cazadero was 258 (86.6%) White, 0 (0.0%) African American, 6 (2.0%) Native American, 2 (0.7%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 5 (1.7%) from other races, and 27 (9.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19 persons (6.4%).^[25]

The whole population lived in households. There were 146 households, out of which 17 (11.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 62 (42.5%) were married-couple households, 17 (11.6%) were cohabiting couple households, 29 (19.9%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 38 (26.0%) had a male householder with no partner present. 49 households (33.6%) were one person, and 28 (19.2%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.04.^[25] There were 75 families (51.4% of all households).^[26]

The age distribution was 45 people (15.1%) under the age of 18, 12 people (4.0%) aged 18 to 24, 65 people (21.8%) aged 25 to 44, 89 people (29.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 87 people (29.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.4 males.^[25]

There were 245 housing units at an average density of 34.4 units per square mile (13.3 units/km²), of which 146 (59.6%) were occupied. Of these, 104 (71.2%) were owner-occupied, and 42 (28.8%) were occupied by renters.^[25]

The Cazadero zip code, 95421, has a population of about 1,592, and a housing density of 7 people per square mile.^[4]

Parks and recreation

The area is home to a number of camps, including BSA Camp Royaneh, Camp Cazadero, and the Cazadero Performing Arts Camp.

Education

The school districts are Montgomery Elementary School District and West Sonoma County Union High School District.^[27]

The Montgomery district has one school, Montgomery Elementary School.^[28]