Castaic

Castaic (Chumash: Katiq; Spanish: Castéc) is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 19,015. The Castaic Range War went on for decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries resulting in dozens of deaths before hostilities ceased in 1916. Castaic Lake is part of the California Water Project and is the site of a hydro-electric power plant. The area is seismically active. On January 3, 2015, a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 3.1 and 4.2 were reported about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) north of Castaic. The Córdova family of California were the first settlers in the area. It has been held by the Cordova family since 1834 and helped identify bodies during the St. Francis Dam disaster in 1928. According to the Köppen climate system, Castaic has a hot and dry summers, and cool, moderately rainy winters. During the months of June and September, the average high temperature ranges from the 90s F (38 °F) to the 100s C (38°F) According to September though September the average temperature is above 100 °F (50 °C) Castaic is located 38 miles (61 km) northwest of Los Los Angeles Union Station and northwest of the city of Santa Clarita. It is located on Interstate 5 (the Golden State Freeway).

Name

Castaic is the primary city name, but also Santa Clarita, Val Verde are acceptable city names or spellings. The name is derived from the Chumash word Katiq, meaning "the eye" The Spanish and Mexicans later spelt the name in Spanish as Castéc. Early publications in English spelled it Casteque before the current spelling became standardized. Castec is first mentioned on old boundary maps of Rancho San Francisco, as a canyon at the trailhead leading to Castac Lake (Tejon Ranch), which is intermittently wet and briny. The current spelling of Castec was adopted in the 1970s and has been in use ever since. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, near the town of San Francisco. The name Castec means 'the eye' or 'the light' in the Chummash language, which is related to the word 'katiq' which means 'eye' and is used to refer to the eye-like feature of the California coast. The word 'Castec' is also used in the name of a nearby lake, Castac, which was once known as 'Castac Lake' and was a popular camping spot for the Chmash. The town of Castac is located on the banks of the Castec River, which runs through the center of the town. The Castec Canyon Trail runs along the west side of the river, leading to the site of the old Castac Camp. The canyon is one of the most popular hiking trails in San Francisco County, California, and is popular with backpackers.

History

Modern Castaic began in 1887 when Southern Pacific set up a railroad siding on the line between Piru and Saugus Station. Between 1890 and 1916, the Castaic Range War was fought in Castaic country over ranch boundaries and grazing rights. The war claimed dozens of lives and foiled a negotiator, a forest ranger whom President Theodore Roosevelt had sent in to quell it. Castaic has the last traditional cattle roundupwith horses, lariats, and branding ironsin Los Angeles County. It has been held by the Cordova family since 1834, when the family first settled here. Members of the cordova family were scouts for the U.S. Army during the Mexican War in 1846 and helped identify bodies during the St. Francis Dam disaster in 1928. In 1967, the government seized around 1,000 acres (400 ha), including the ancestral ranch-house, for the planned Castaic Lake and dam. It was the biggest range war in U.S. history. The Castaic area is now home to the University of California, Los Angeles, and the California State University, Santa Barbara. It is also the home of the California Institute of the Arts, which was founded in 1883 and is located in the Los Angeles suburb of Los Angeles. The university is one of the oldest colleges in the state, having been founded in 1788. It also has the California College of Law and Economics, which opened in 1891. The University of Southern California is the only major university in the area.

Geography

The area is seismically active. On January 3, 2015, a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 3.1 and 4.2 were reported about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) north of Castaic. The epicenter was 16 miles (26 km) from Santa Clarita, California. This region experiences hot and dry summers, and cool, moderately rainy winters. During the months of June though September, the average high temperature ranges from the 90s F (30s C) to above 100 °F (38 °C) According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Castaic has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. The area is located in the San Diego County, California, and the Los Angeles County, Southern California, areas. It is located near the border of the counties of Riverside and San Diego, and is near to the border with Imperial and Imperial Counties, and to the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. It has a latitude of 34.610°N 118.635°W and a longitude of 118.630°W (or 34.620; -118.630). It has an altitude of 603 metres (1,400 feet) above sea level. The average annual rainfall in Castaic is 1.2 inches (38.5 cm) and the average annual temperature is 1,200 F (62.7 °C). The area has a dry summer, and a dry winter.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Castaic had a population of 19,015. The racial makeup of Castaic was 13,607 (71.6%) White (57.1% Non-Hispanic White), 630 (3.3%) African American, 119 (0.6) Native American, 2,162 (11.4%) Asian, 26 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 1,466 (7.7%) from other races, and 1,005 (5.3) from two or more races. There were 5,932 housing units at an average density of 815.0 per square mile (314.7/km²), of which 4,843 (84.2%) were owner-occupied, and 908 (15.8%) were occupied by renters. The median household income was $106,538, with 7.0% of the population living below the federal poverty line. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males. The city's population was spread out in age, with 5,761 people under the age of 18, 5,144 people aged 25 to 44, and 5,302 people (27.9%) aged 45 to 64. The median age was 35.6 years; for every 100 Females, there was 101.2 males. 16,231 people (85.4%) lived in owner- occupied housing units and 2,715 people (14.3%), lived in rental housing units. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%; the rental vacancy rates was 6.7%.

Education

Elementary and middle school students attend schools in the Castaic Union School District. High school students attending Castaic High School in the William S. Hart Union High school District. Castaic high school first opened in 2019. The school district is in the Los Angeles suburb of Los Angeles. The district has a population of more than 1.5 million people. It is the largest school district in Los Angeles County, with more than 100,000 students. It also has the second largest enrollment in the state of California, behind Los Angeles Unified School District at more than 80,000. It was the first high school to open in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s. It opened its doors to students in the fall of 1983. The high school opened in the spring of 1986. It has a capacity of about 1,500 students, with the majority of its students coming from Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. It first opened as a high school in the summer of 1987. It became a junior high in the winter of 1988. It closed its doors in the Spring of 1989. It reopened as a senior high school the following year. It now has a total of about 2,200 students, including 1,200 freshmen and 1,000 sophomores and juniors, in the high school district. It's located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard. In the spring, the school district opened a new high school, Castaic Senior High.

Government and infrastructure

In the California State Legislature, Castaic is in the 21st Senate District, represented by Republican Scott Wilk. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the community is in California's 25th congressional district. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Santa Clarita Valley Station. Station 149 of the L.A. County Fire Department serves the community. The Castaic Area Town Council meets monthly. The community is served by the Castaic-Santa Clarita Unified School District, based in the town of Castaic. The district is made up of the towns of Santa Clarita, Santa Clara, and Santa Barbara. It is located in the northern part of the Santa Carolina Valley, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The town is located near the Los Angeles River, which runs through the town. It has a population of about 2,000 people, with the majority of its residents living in the central area. The city is located on the California Interior Railway, which connects Los Angeles to the rest of the state. It was built in the early 20th century, and is one of the oldest communities in the state, dating back to the 18th century. Castaic was the site of the first settlement in the area, in 1805. The area was once known as "C Castaic" or "Castaic Canyon" by the Spanish-speaking community.

Appearances in popular culture

The community was featured by Huell Howser in The Bench Episode 19. The community was also featured in the TV show "American Idol" The community has also appeared in the film "The Lego Movie" and the TV series "Dumb and Dumber to Die" It has also been featured in "The Simpsons" and "The Flintstones" It is also featured on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" and on the "Saturday Night Live" series "This Is Life with Kelly Osbourne" It was featured on the cover of the book "Imitation of Life" in the early 1990s. It was also the subject of the movie "The LEGO Movie", which was released in 1998. It has been featured on numerous other TV shows and films. It is now featured on a number of websites, including CNN.com and The Huffington Post. It also appears on the website "The Huffington Post" and other sites such as "This is Life with Lisa Ling", "The Daily Mail" and "The New York Times" It also appeared on the television show "The Oprah Winfrey Show", in which it was mentioned on several occasions. It can also be seen on the internet, including on "Larry King Live," "The Today" show, "The Colbert Report" and many other sites. It will also be featured in a documentary about the community called "The Next Generation", which will be released later this year. In the U.S. it will also appear on "Criminal Minds", a series of other sites, including "The Tonight Show", "This Morning" and "The Voice".