Yreka, California
| Yreka, California | |
|---|---|
| City | |
| City of Yreka | |
Statue at entrance to Yreka Historic District
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 Location in Siskiyou County and the state of California |
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 Yreka, California
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| Coordinates: 41°43′36″N 122°38′15″W / 41.72667°N 122.63750°WCoordinates: 41°43′36″N 122°38′15″W / 41.72667°N 122.63750°W | |
| Country |  United States of America |
| State |
 California
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| County |
 Siskiyou
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| Incorporated | April 21, 1857 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council–manager |
| Area | |
| • Total | 10.053 sq mi (26.036 km2) |
| • Land | 9.980 sq mi (25.847 km2) |
| • Water | 0.073 sq mi (0.188 km2) 0.72% |
| Elevation | 2,589 ft (789 m) |
| Population (April 1, 2010) | |
| • Total | 7,765 |
| • Estimate (2013) | 7,605 |
| • Density | 770/sq mi (300/km2) |
| Time zone | Pacific (UTC−8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC−7) |
| ZIP code | 96097 |
| Area code | 530 |
| FIPS code | 06-86944 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 1652661, 2412324 |
| Website | ci |
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West Miner Street-Third Street District
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West Miner Street in Yreka
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| Built | 1854-1900 |
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| NRHP Reference # | 72000258 |
| CHISL # | 901 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 11, 1972 |
| Designated CHISL | 1976 |
Yreka (/waɪˈriːkə/ wy-REE-kə) is the county seat of Siskiyou County, California, United States, located in the Shasta Valley at 2,500 feet (760 m) above sea level and covering about 10.1 sq mi (26 km2) area, of which most is land. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 7,765, reflecting an increase of 475 from the 7,290 counted in the 2000 Census. Yreka is home to the College of the Siskiyous, Klamath National Forest Interpretive Museum and the Siskiyou County Museum. Its gold mining heritage is commemorated by the high school team which uses a gold miner as their name and mascot.
In March 1851, Abraham Thompson, a mule train packer, discovered gold near Rocky Gulch while traveling along the Siskiyou Trail from southern Oregon. By April 1851, 2,000 miners had arrived in "Thompson's Dry Diggings" to test their luck, and by June 1851, a gold rush "boomtown" of tents, shanties, and a few rough cabins had sprung up. Several name changes occurred until the little city was called Yreka. The name comes from the Shasta language /wáik'a/, for which Mount Shasta is named. The word means "north mountain" or "white mountain".
Mark Twain tells a different story:
Poet Joaquin Miller described Yreka during 1853–1854 as a bustling place with "... a tide of people up and down and across other streets, as strong as if a city on the East Coast". Incorporation proceedings were completed on April 21, 1857.
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Wikipedia