Calaveras County, California

Calaveras County is a located in the  of the  of. As of the, it had a population of 40,554. The is.

set his famous story, , in the county. Each year, the county hosts its County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee, featuring a frog jumping contest, to celebrate the association with Twain's story. The celebrated, feared absent from the county by , was rediscovered in.

, a preserve of trees, is located in the county several miles east of the town of Arnold on state highway 4.

The uncommon mineral  is named for this county.

is the only incorporated city in the.

History
Calaveras County was one of the original counties of California, created in at the time of statehood. Parts of the county's territory were given to in  and to  in.

The Spanish word calaveras means "s." This county takes its name from the which was reportedly so designated by Spanish explorer  when he found, on the banks of the stream, many skulls of  who had either died of famine or had been killed in tribal conflicts over hunting and fishing grounds.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,685 (1,037 ). 2,642 km² (1,020 sq mi) of it is land and 44 km² (17 sq mi) of it (1.62%) is water. A California Department of Forestry report lists the county's area in acres as 663,000, although the exact figure would be 663,477.949 acres.

Special Districts
Special districts in Calaveras County include:
 * Altaville-Melones Fire District
 * Angels Camp Fire District
 * Bret Harte Union High School District
 * Calaveras County Air Pollution Control District
 * Calaveras Unified School District
 * Central Calaveras Fire and Rescue Protection District
 * Copperopolis Fire Protection District
 * Ebbetts Pass Fire Protection District
 * Foothill Fire District
 * Jenny Lind Fire District
 * Mark Twain Union Elementary School District
 * Mokelumne Hill Fire District
 * Murphys Fire District
 * San Andreas Fire District
 * Vallecito Union Elementary School District
 * Valley Springs Public Utilities District
 * West Point Fire District

Adjacent Counties

 * - southwest
 * - west
 * - north
 * - northeast
 * - south, southeast

Major Highways

 * [[Image:California 4.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 12.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 26.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 49.svg|20px]]

Public Transportation
provides service in Angels Camp, San Andreas, and other communities in the county. Intercounty connections are available to Columbia (Tuolumne County), Jackson (El Dorado County) and Lodi (San Joaquin County)

Airports
is a general aviation airport located just southeast of San Andreas.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 40,554 people, 16,469 households, and 11,742 families residing in the county. The was 15/km² (40/sq mi). There were 22,946 housing units at an average density of 9/km² (22/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 91.19%, 0.75% or , 1.74% , 0.85% , 0.09% , 2.07% from , and 3.31% from two or more races. 6.82% of the population were or  of any race. 94.5% spoke and 4.0%  as their first language.

There were 16,469 households out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the county the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 22.4% from 25 to 44, 31.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,022, and the median income for a family was $47,379. Males had a median income of $41,827 versus $28,108 for females. The for the county was $21,420. About 8.7% of families and 11.80% of the population were below the, including 15.6% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Politics
Calaveras is a -leaning county in and  elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was in.

Calaveras is part of, which is held by Republican. In the, Calaveras is part of the 25th district, which is held by Republican. In the, Calaveras is part of the 1st district, which is held by Republican.

Calaveras County wineries
There are at least 21 wineries located in Calaveras County. Most are members of the Calaveras Winegrape Alliance. Regardless of their location in the county, many have opened and stores in the town of.


 * (formerly Rocco's Com'e Bella Vineyards)
 * (formerly Rocco's Com'e Bella Vineyards)