Alturas, California
| Alturas | |
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| General law city | |
Main Street in 1975
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| Motto: "Where the West Still Lives" | |
 Location in Modoc County and the state of California |
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 Alturas
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| Coordinates: 41°29′14″N 120°32′33″W / 41.48722°N 120.54250°WCoordinates: 41°29′14″N 120°32′33″W / 41.48722°N 120.54250°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Modoc |
| Incorporated | September 16, 1901 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.449 sq mi (6.342 km2) |
| • Land | 2.435 sq mi (6.306 km2) |
| • Water | 0.014 sq mi (0.036 km2) 0.57% |
| Elevation | 4,370 ft (1,332 m) |
| Population (April 1, 2010) | |
| • Total | 2,827 |
| • Density | 1,200/sq mi (450/km2) |
| Time zone | Pacific Time Zone (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 96101 |
| Area code | 530 |
| FIPS code | 06-01444 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 277469, 2409688 |
| Website | www |
Alturas (formerly, Dorris Bridge, Dorris' Bridge, and Dorrisville) is a city in and the county seat of Modoc County, California, United States. The population was 2,827 at the 2010 census.
Alturas is located on the Pit River, east of the center of Modoc County, at an elevation of 4370 feet (1332 m). As the county seat, the town is a home to regional government offices, including a California Highway Patrol office and a state Department of Motor Vehicles office.
Alturas now occupies what was initially an Achumawi (Pit River) village known as Kosealekte or Kasalektawi. The city was initially known as Dorris Bridge (or Dorris' Bridge), named after Pressley and James Dorris, who built a bridge across the Pit River at this location.
The Dorris Bridge post office opened in 1871, renamed Dorrisville in 1874, and in 1876, was renamed Alturas, which is Spanish for "heights". The census of 1880 showed a population of 148. However, settlement continued over the next two decades, until the city was officially incorporated on September 16, 1901; the county's only incorporated city. Because of its central location, Dorrisville became the county seat when Modoc County formed in 1874, even though both Adin and Cedarville were then larger towns.
On January 10, 1945, a balloon bomb was shot down approximately 30 miles west of the town.
Alturas straddles the North Fork of the Pit River, near its confluence with the South Fork in the north end of South Fork Valley, in the extreme northeastern corner of California at 41°29′14″N 120°32′33″W / 41.48722°N 120.54250°W. The tall Warner Mountains lie to the east, the wetlands and wild rice fields of South Fork Valley to the south, and the extensive Modoc Plateau to the north.
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