Benbow, California

Country

Elevation

^[2]

440 ft (134 m)

Benbow, California
Unincorporated community Census designated place
Location of Benbow in Humboldt County, California.
Benbow, California Location in California Show map of Northern California Benbow, California Benbow, California (California) Show map of California Benbow, California Benbow, California (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 40°04′07″N 123°47′04″W / 40.06861°N 123.78444°W / 40.06861; -123.78444
Country	United States
State	California
County	Humboldt County
Area ^[1]
• Total	4.88 sq mi (12.64 km²)
• Land	4.88 sq mi (12.64 km²)
• Water	0 sq mi (0.00 km²) 0%
Elevation ^[2]	440 ft (134 m)
Population (2020)
• Total	422
• Density	86.5/sq mi (33.4/km²)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
Area code(s)	707, 369
GNIS feature IDs	1655827, 2611375
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Benbow, California; U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Benbow, California

Benbow is an unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California, United States, located beside the South Fork Eel River.^[2] It is 2 miles (3.2 km) south-southeast of Garberville,^[3] at an elevation of 440 feet (134 m).^[2] Its population is 422 as of the 2020 census, up from 321 from the 2010 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Benbow as a census-designated place (CDP).^[4]

The children of Arthur Benbow purchased 1,288 acres (521 ha) from Ernest Linser and also some land from John Kamper, Jack Bowden and a Mr. Peirce in 1922.^[5] It soon became apparent that ranching would not be sufficient to meet their needs so the family constructed the Benbow Inn resort hotel.^[5] In the early years the Inn was known as the Hotel Benbow and opened on July 17, 1926.^[5] The electricity for the hotel came from two diesel generators until a dam and powerhouse was completed on the south fork of the Eel River.^[6]^[3] The Tudorbethan style inn is still in operation on US Route 101 between Humboldt Bay and the San Francisco Bay Area.^[3]

The post office was established on December 30, 1929, and operated at Benbow until it was merged with the Garberville post office on January 31, 1953.^[3]

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
2010	321	—
2020	422	31.5%
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]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Benbow had a population of 422. The population density was 86.5 inhabitants per square mile (33.4/km²). 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.^[23]^[24]^[25]

The median age was 41.7 years. The age distribution was 20.6% under the age of 18, 4.0% aged 18 to 24, 29.6% aged 25 to 44, 27.0% aged 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 102.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 109.4 males age 18 and over.^[23]

The census reported that 99.8% of the population lived in households, 0.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 199 households, of which 19.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 35.7% were married-couple households, 13.1% were cohabiting couple households, 26.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 38.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12. There were 99 families (49.7% of all households).^[23]^[26]

There were 229 housing units at an average density of 46.9 units per square mile (18.1 units/km²), of which 13.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 1.2%. Of the 199 occupied units, 59.3% were owner-occupied and 40.7% were renter-occupied.^[23]^[27]

Racial composition as of the 2020 census^[24]
Race	Number	Percent
White	343	81.3%
Black or African American	10	2.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native	5	1.2%
Asian	5	1.2%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0	0.0%
Some other race	17	4.0%
Two or more races	42	10.0%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	48	11.4%

2010 census

Benbow first appeared as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. census.^[22]

v t e Municipalities and communities of Humboldt County, California, United States
County seat: Eureka
Cities	Arcata Blue Lake Eureka Ferndale Fortuna Rio Dell Trinidad	Humboldt County map
CDPs	Alderpoint Bayview Benbow Big Lagoon Cutten Fairhaven Fieldbrook Fields Landing Garberville Hoopa Humboldt Hill Hydesville Indianola Kep'el Loleta McKinleyville Manila Miranda Myers Flat Myrtletown Orick Phillipsville Pine Hills Redcrest Redway Samoa Scotia Shelter Cove Wautec Weitchpec Westhaven-Moonstone Willow Creek
Unincorporated communities	Alton Bayside Blocksburg Briceland Bridgeville Carlotta Dinsmore Elk River Englewood Fernbridge Fort Seward Freshwater Fruitland Glendale Holmes Honeydew Johnsons King Salmon Kneeland Korbel Maple Creek Notchko Orleans Pepperwood Petrolia Pine Hill Port Kenyon Riverside Park Rohnerville Rosewood Shively South Fork Stafford Weott Whitethorn
Indian reservations	Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria Big Lagoon Rancheria Blue Lake Rancheria Hupa Rohnerville Rancheria Wiyot Tribe Yurok Indian Reservation
Former settlements	Albeeville Apyu Aranimokw Arekw Atsepar Bald Hills Brainard Bucksport Calville Camp Grant Centerville Chinits Crannell Dyerville Eshpeu Fort Baker Honsading Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station Iaqua Kokaman Kworatem Lone Star Loolego Luffenholtz Martins Ferry Meridian Metropolitan Mettah Oketo Opegoi Ore'q Panamenik Pardee's Ranch Pasara Pekwan Pekwuteu Shanamkarak Shregegon Shumig Tsofkara Tsurau
California portal United States portal

v t e Eel River Watershed
Tributaries	Black Butte River Bull Creek Cedar Creek East Branch South Fork Eel River Middle Fork Eel River North Fork Eel River Outlet Creek Rice Fork Salt River South Fork Eel River Van Duzen River Yager Creek
Communities	Alderpoint Alton Andersonia Bell Springs Benbow Branscomb Bridgeville Carlotta Cooks Valley Covelo Cummings Dinsmore Dos Rios Fernbridge Ferndale Fort Seward Fortuna Garberville Hydesville Laytonville Leggett Loleta Longvale Miranda Myers Flat Pepperwood Phillipsville Piercy Port Kenyon Redcrest Redway Rio Dell Rohnerville Scotia Weott Willits Zenia
Landmarks	Admiral William Standley State Recreation Area Avenue of the Giants Benbow State Recreation Area Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park Highway 101 Humboldt Redwoods State Park Island Mountain Lake Pillsbury Northwestern Pacific Railroad Richardson Grove State Park Scotia Bluffs

Benbow, California

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

Government

State and federal

References

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