North Fork, California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids North Fork wa?ahhpY'
Unincorporated community Census-designated place
North Fork Location in California Show map of California North Fork Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	California
County	Madera
Area
• Total	32.28 sq mi (83.6 km2)
• Land	32.24 sq mi (83.5 km2)
• Water	0.04 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	2,638 ft (804 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	3,250
• Density	100.8/sq mi (38.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP Code	93643
Area code(s)	559
GNIS feature IDs	1659768; 2804436
FIPS Code	06-51868

North Fork is a small community in Madera County, California, United States. It used to be called Brown's and Northfork. In the Mono language, its name is wa?ahhpY', which means "cedar grove." About 3,250 people live here, based on the 2020 census. North Fork is considered a census-designated place (CDP) for statistics. It's also home to the main offices of the Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California.

North Fork is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills, about 2,638 feet above sea level. It's about 46 miles north-northeast of Fresno and 41 miles northeast of Madera. The community covers about 32.3 square miles. Willow Creek and its North and South Forks are the main waterways. North Fork is also special because it's the community closest to the exact geographic center of California!

This area is the traditional homeland of the Mono Native Americans. North Fork grew into an important center for the timber industry, which was the main way people made a living here until the late 1900s. Today, you can visit the Sierra Mono Museum and explore the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway. The Buckhorn Saloon, a historic spot since the 1800s, is still a restaurant and tavern. North Fork also hosts the annual Mid-Sierra Loggers Jamboree, celebrating the region's logging past.

North Fork's Location and Landscape

The monument marking California's geographic center near North Fork.

North Fork is nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, sitting at an elevation of 2,638 feet. It's about 46 miles north-northeast of Fresno and 41 miles northeast of Madera. By road, it's about 17 miles southeast of Oakhurst.

The North Fork area covers about 32.3 square miles. Only a tiny part of this, about 0.04 square miles, is water. The community gets its water from Willow Creek and its North and South Forks. Willow Creek flows south and eventually joins the San Joaquin River.

A cool fact about North Fork is that the geographic center of California is located nearby, between North Fork and Italian Bar. This spot is about 7.1 miles by car from the United States Forest Service office in North Fork. You'll find a sign and a survey marker there. There are wooden stairs leading up a hillside to the marker, but it's not easy to reach with a wheelchair.

Weather in North Fork

North Fork has a Mediterranean climate. This means it has cool, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. On average, it gets about 33.43 inches of rain each year.

Who Lives in North Fork?

North Fork is a community in California with a unique population. The people living here are generally older than the average Californian. For example, the average age in North Fork is 58, while in California it's about 38. A large part of the population, about 36%, is 65 years old or older.

North Fork also has more veterans (people who served in the military) than the rest of California. About 13% of residents are veterans, compared to 4.3% statewide.

When it comes to money, the average household income in North Fork is $65,850, which is less than California's average of $91,551. Also, a higher percentage of people in North Fork (15.7%) live in poverty compared to the state average (12.2%). Fewer people in North Fork have a bachelor's degree or higher (17.9%) compared to the state (37%).

Housing in North Fork is generally more affordable. The average rent is about $981, much lower than California's average of $1,870. There are 1,633 homes in the area.

The community is made up of different groups of people. There are 356 American Indians, 385 Hispanic or Latinos, and 352 people of two or more races. Most residents, about 2,388, identify as White. North Fork has a smaller number of people who were born outside the U.S. (5.2%) compared to California as a whole (26.7%).

North Fork's Past

Native People of North Fork

A Mono couple living near North Fork, California, around 1920.

North Fork is located on the traditional lands of the Mono people. Even today, a good number of Mono Native Americans live in the area.

In 1893, a law called the Sierra Timber Reserve Act put the land around North Fork under federal control. This caused problems for the Mono Indians. They were not recognized as U.S. citizens until 1924. This meant they couldn't continue their traditional ways of life, like hunting and gathering, or even their newer practice of raising cattle. They were basically kept off their own ancestral lands. Because of these difficulties, many Mono people either joined the settler communities or moved to other places.

Early Days of the Settlement

The first lasting settlement in North Fork began in 1865. A man named Milton Brown built what might have been the first house there. It was a log cabin at the end of a new road that led from Crane Valley to the north fork of the San Joaquin River. Brown's place became a supply stop for stockmen, sheepmen, and miners who were traveling further into the mountains. People often called the spot "Brown's Place."

A big change happened in 1886 when Milton Brown and John Bartram built a sawmill on Peckinpah Mountain. This was the start of the North Fork Lumber Company. In 1887, the company opened a post office called North Fork, which gave the settlement its current name.

At first, North Fork was a small place with just a few stores, hotels, and a watering trough. Miners and hog farmers mostly lived there. One old description said the main store sold "a few groceries, cheap calico, and lots of whiskey." This led locals to rename Alder Creek to Whiskey Creek! The Fresno Morning Republican newspaper once called the area "a bleak little mountain center," showing how isolated it was from towns like Friant and Madera.

The famous director Sam Peckinpah spent his childhood summers on his grandparents' ranch in North Fork. His grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Peckinpah, moved to North Fork in 1884. Peckinpah Mountain is named after their old sawmill site. Sam Peckinpah, born in 1925, used his family's experiences from the Wild West era to inspire his Western films and TV shows, like Ride the High Country (1962) and The Wild Bunch (1969). The town of North Fork in The Rifleman TV series, which Peckinpah created, is named after the real North Fork.

Forestry and Lumber Industry

In 1902, North Fork became a very important place for the Sierra Reserves, which later became the Sierra National Forest. Charles H. Shinn became the head ranger there. North Fork was chosen as the main office because it was right in the middle of the large Sierra Reserves, which stretched from Tuolumne County in the north to Kern County in the south. The main office stayed in North Fork until 1989, when it moved to Clovis.

During the Great Depression, commercial logging in eastern Madera County stopped suddenly. The Sugar Pine Lumber Company, which operated in the mountains above North Fork, closed down in 1933.

However, a new logging era began in 1941. The Associated Box and Lumber Company bought 135 acres of land and moved its operations to North Fork by 1942. This was a big change for the town. With new logging trucks and modern equipment, loggers could reach deeper into the Sierra National Forest.

Even though the sawmill and logging roads weren't fully ready, operations started in 1942. By April 1, 1943, the mill processed its first log. In its first year, the North Fork mill processed over nine million board feet of lumber. This lumber mostly came from ponderosa pine, sugar pine, lodgepole pine, and incense cedar trees from the Sierra National Forest.

The mill completely changed North Fork. By 1951, the town's population grew to over 2,000 people. The mill became the biggest employer, giving jobs to over 130 workers at its busiest times. It also brought about $500,000 into the local economy each year. The mill complex included the sawmill, a planing mill, lumber storage, workshops, and even housing for its employees. There were 22 two-bedroom houses available for rent. By 1968, the mill's yearly payroll grew to $1,250,000, showing how important logging was to the area.

In 1985, Ron Yanke bought the mill and renamed it South Fork Timber Industries. From 1985 to 1991, the mill produced an average of 143 million board feet of lumber each year. That's enough wood to build about 12,000 single-family homes!

In 1986, a cogeneration plant was added. This plant used sawdust to create power and electricity. Any extra electricity was sold to power companies. The mill also started turning bark into compost and selling ash as fertilizer.

However, new government rules by 1992 greatly reduced how much wood could be harvested from the forests. By 1993, the mill's output dropped to 63.8 million board feet. These changes, along with rising costs, made it too expensive to produce lumber. This led to layoffs starting in 1991, and the mill finally closed on February 25, 1994.

North Fork's Economy

Until 1996, the timber industry was the main support of North Fork's economy. The local lumber mill was the town's biggest source of jobs and income.

Today, North Fork has a unique job market. About 20.9% of its workers are employed in local, state, and federal government jobs. This is a higher percentage than California's average of 14.2%. However, the overall employment rate in North Fork is lower than the state's average.

The US Forest Service Crane Valley Hotshots, a team of wildland firefighters, are still based in North Fork. They play an important role in protecting the area from wildfires.

Fun Things to Do in North Fork

The Sierra Mono Museum is a great place to learn about the local history and culture of the Mono people. The town is also the starting point for the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway. This route is famous for its amazing views of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The historic Buckhorn Saloon.

The Buckhorn Saloon has been around since the late 1800s. In the 1950s, it became a dude ranch, welcoming people who came for fishing and hunting. Today, it's still a restaurant and a western saloon.

A historical marker in downtown North Fork shows where a stagecoach stop used to be. This marker was put up by a group called E Clampus Vitus. As mentioned before, the geographic center of California is located between North Fork and Italian Bar. You can find a sign and a survey marker about 7.1 miles (11.4 km) by car from the United States Forest Service office in North Fork.

Since 1959, North Fork has hosted the Loggers Jamboree. It started as a competition for lumberjacks from seven local counties, held every year on the first weekend in July. The event included logging sports, a parade down main street, and a beauty pageant. After the local mill closed in the 1990s, the event, now called the Mid-Sierra Loggers Jamboree, became a way to honor the long history of logging in the area.

Famous People from North Fork

• Jeff King: A four-time champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a famous sled dog race in Alaska.
• Sam Peckinpah: A well-known director who spent a lot of his childhood on his grandparents' ranch in North Fork.
• Charles Howard Shinn: A pioneer in gardening and a forest ranger. Mt. Shinn was named after him.

See also

In Spanish: North Fork (California) para niños