Mojave, California

Mojave
—  census-designated place  —
Halotrichite from the abandoned Golden Queen mine on Soledad Mtn., just south of Mojave
Location in Kern County and the state of California
Coordinates: 35°03′09″N 118°10′26″W / 35.0525°N 118.17389°W / 35.0525; -118.17389Coordinates: 35°03′09″N 118°10′26″W / 35.0525°N 118.17389°W / 35.0525; -118.17389
Country	United States
State	California
County	Kern
Government
- Senate	Roy Ashburn (R)
- Assembly	Bill Maze (R)
- U. S. Congress	Kevin McCarthy (R)
Area[1]
- Total	58.375 sq mi (151.188 km2)
- Land	58.29 sq mi (150.969 km2)
- Water	0.085 sq mi (0.219 km2)  0.14%
Elevation[2]	2,762 ft (842 m)
Population (2010)
- Total	4,238
- Density	72.6/sq mi (28/km2)
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
- Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	93501, 93502, 93519
Area code(s)	661
FIPS code	06-48452
GNIS feature ID	1652752

Mojave, looking east, from 10,000 feet (3,000 m)

The Mojave Air and Space Port as viewed from nearby Highway 58

Mojave (formerly, Mohave)^[2] is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located 50 miles (80 km) east of Bakersfield,^[3] at an elevation of 2762 feet (842 m).^[2] The town is located at the southwestern region of the Mojave Desert, below and east of Oak Creek Pass and the Tehachapi Mountains.

The population was 4,238 at the 2010 census, up from 3,836 at the 2000 census. Telephone numbers in Mojave follow the format (661) 824-xxxx and the area includes three postal ZIP Codes.

History

The city of Mojave began in 1876 as a construction camp on the Southern Pacific Railroad. From 1884 to 1889, the town was the western terminus of the 165-mile (266 km), twenty-mule team borax wagon route originating at Harmony Borax Works in Death Valley. It later served as headquarters for construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.^[3]

Aviation and space travel

Located near Edwards Air Force Base, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and Palmdale Regional Airport, Mojave has a rich aerospace history as well. Its airport used to be a U.S. Marine air base. Besides continuing operating as a small airport, it hosted national air races.^{[citation needed]} The airport is now the home of various aerospace companies and institutions such as Scaled Composites and the civilian National Test Pilot School. The town was home to the Rutan Voyager, the first aircraft to fly around the world nonstop and unrefueled. The airport is also the first inland spaceport in the United States, the Mojave Air and Space Port, which was the location of the first private spaceflight, the launch of SpaceShipOne on June 21, 2004. In the fictional Star Trek universe, it is the home town of Captain Christopher Pike.

After winning the Ansari X Prize, Burt Rutan quipped that the isolation of the Mojave Desert fosters invention. "Innovation is what we do here," he said, "because there's not much else to do in Mojave".

Geography

Mojave is located at 35°03′09″N 118°10′26″W / 35.0525°N 118.17389°W / 35.0525; -118.17389.^[2] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 58.4 square miles (151 km²), over 99% of it land.

Climate

Mojave has an arid climate with hot summers and cool winters. Average January temperatures are a maximum of 57.8 °F (14.3 °C) and a minimum of 34.3 °F (1.3 °C). Average July temperatures are a maximum of 97.7 °F (36.5 °C) and a minimum of 69.8 °F (21.0 °C). There are an average of 98.0 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) and an average of 45.7 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C). The record high temperature was 118 °F (48 °C) on August 5, 1914. The record low temperature was 8 °F (−13 °C) on December 23, 1990.

Average annual rainfall is 5.96 inches (15.1 cm). There are an average of 22 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1983 with 15.51 inches (39.4 cm) and the driest year was 1942 with .85 inches (2.2 cm). The most rainfall in one month was 6.85 inches (17.4 cm) in February 1998. The most rainfall in 24 hours was 3.00 inches (7.6 cm) on January 30, 1915 Snow is relatively rare in Mojave, averaging 1.7 inches (4.3 cm). The most snowfall in one month was 11.0 inches (28 cm) in February 1911.^[4]

Demographics

2010

The 2010 United States Census^[5] reported that Mojave had a population of 4,238. The population density was 72.6 people per square mile (28.0/km²). The racial makeup of Mojave was 2,381 (56.2%) White, 638 (15.1%) African American, 54 (1.3%) Native American, 53 (1.3%) Asian, 19 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 867 (20.5%) from other races, and 226 (5.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,592 persons (37.6%).

The 2010 Census reported that 4,238 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 1,525 households, out of which 614 (40.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 597 (39.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 305 (20.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 111 (7.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 161 (10.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 9 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 417 households (27.3%) were made up of individuals and 128 (8.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78. There were 1,013 families (66.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.37.

The population was spread out with 1,298 people (30.6%) under the age of 18, 509 people (12.0%) aged 18 to 24, 938 people (22.1%) aged 25 to 44, 1,052 people (24.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 441 people (10.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.0 years. For every 100 females there were 102.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males.

There were 1,817 housing units at an average density of 31.1 per square mile (12.0/km²), of which 719 (47.1%) were owner-occupied, and 806 (52.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 13.7%. 1,907 people (45.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,331 people (55.0%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the census^[6] of 2000, there were 3,836 people, 1,408 households, and 940 families residing in the town. The population density was 65.6 people per square mile (25.3/km²). There were 1,806 housing units at an average density of 30.9 per square mile (11.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 67.54% White, 5.58% Black or African American, 1.33% Native American, 2.01% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 18.12% from other races, and 5.29% from two or more races. 28.31% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,408 households out of which 37.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.31.

In the town .5% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 103.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $24,761, and the median income for a family was $28,496. Males had a median income of $35,476 versus $19,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,477. About 31.7% of families and 36.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 48.8% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Notes

1. ^ U.S. Census
2. ^ ^{a b c d} U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Mojave, California
3. ^ ^{a b} Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Quill Driver Books. p. 1074. ISBN 9781884995149. 
4. ^ http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ca5756
5. ^ All data are derived from the United States Census Bureau reports from the 2010 United States Census, and are accessible on-line here. The data on unmarried partnerships and same-sex married couples are from the Census report DEC_10_SF1_PCT15. All other housing and population data are from Census report DEC_10_DP_DPDP1. Both reports are viewable online or downloadable in a zip file containing a comma-delimited data file. The area data, from which densities are calculated, are available on-line here. Percentage totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. The Census Bureau defines families as a household containing one or more people related to the householder by birth, opposite-sex marriage, or adoption. People living in group quarters are tabulated by the Census Bureau as neither owners nor renters. For further details, see the text files accompanying the data files containing the Census reports mentioned above.
6. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

References

• Bailey, Richard C., Kern County Place Names, (Bakersfield, California: Merchant's Printing and Lithography Co., 1967).
• Beck, Warren A. and Ynez D. Haase, "92: Borax Mines and Roads of the Late 1800s," Historical Atlas of California, (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974).
• United States Postal Service web site, 2006.

External links

• Mojave's official website
• Mojave Transportation Museum website