Castaic, California

Range War

Between 1890 and 1916, the Castaic Range War was fought in Castaic country over ranch boundaries and grazing rights. It was the biggest range war in U.S. history.

A feud started over Section 23, where the Stonegate subdivision is now. William Chormicle had legally bought the property, but William "Wirt" Jenkins was already storing grain on it and said he had filed for ownership. During a heated dispute, Chormicle and a friend shot and killed two of Jenkins's cowhands. They were acquitted in court.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Jenkins, however, was the local justice of the peace, with friends of his own, and the feud quickly grew into war. Former Los Angeles Rangers (among whom Jenkins had fought) and other notables were drawn in. The war claimed dozens of lives and foiled a negotiator, a forest ranger whom President Theodore Roosevelt had sent in to quell it.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Cattle business

Castaic has the last traditional cattle roundup—with horses, lariats, and branding irons—in 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 San Francisquito Canyon in 1928. Operations scaled back in 1967 when the government seized around 1,000 acres (400 ha), including the ancestral ranch-house, for the planned Castaic Lake and dam.^[16][17]

Seismology

The area is seismically active. On January 3, 2015, a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 3.1 (location: 34.610°N 118.635°W / 34.610; -118.635, depth: 5.6 miles (9.0 km)) and 4.2 (location: 34.620°N 118.630°W / 34.620; -118.630, depth: 5.5 miles (8.9 km)), respectively, were reported about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) north of Castaic. The epicenter was 16 miles (26 km) from Santa Clarita, California.^[18][19][20]

Climate

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.^[21]

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Castaic had a population of 18,937 and a population density of 2,607.7 inhabitants per square mile (1,006.8/km²).^[41] The census reported that 99.9% of residents lived in households, 0.1% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.^[41] Overall, 96.5% of residents lived in urban areas and 3.5% lived in rural areas.^[42]

The median age was 39.0 years; 23.5% of residents were under the age of 18, 9.6% were between 18 and 24, 23.9% were between 25 and 44, 31.3% were between 45 and 64, and 11.6% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.4 males.^[41]

There were 6,054 households; 39.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 64.7% were married-couple households, 5.5% were cohabiting couple households, 17.3% had a female householder with no partner present, and 12.5% had a male householder with no partner present. About 14.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older; the average household size was 3.13.^[41] There were 4,859 families (80.3% of all households).^[43]

There were 6,130 housing units at an average density of 844.1 units per square mile (325.9 units/km²), of which 6,054 (98.8%) were occupied and 1.2% were vacant. Of the occupied units, 82.5% were owner-occupied and 17.5% were occupied by renters; the homeowner vacancy rate was 0.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 1.9%.^[41]

Income

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $132,153, and the per capita income was $50,338. About 3.8% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line.^[45]