Del Norte County, California

Del Norte County Education, Geography, and History

Del Norte County is a county located at the far northwest corner of the state of California, along the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Oregon border. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 28,610. The county seat and only incorporated city is Crescent City.  Del Norte county was created in 1857, from territory formerly included in Klamath County. Del Norte is named for the shortened Spanish nickname for "the land of the north" (la tierra del norte). Despite its Spanish etymology, official pronunciation of the name is to drop the trailing "e" and simply say "Del Nort."

Del Norte County comprises the Crescent City, CA Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Del Norte County Name

Del Norte county was created in 1857, from territory formerly included in Klamath County. The name of this county signifies "the north," and the county derived its name from its geographical position in the extreme northwest corner of the state.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Del Norte County History

Del Norte County was founded in 1857, from part of the territory of Klamath County following the great California Gold Rush. Klamath County itself ceased to exist in 1874.

Del Norte County is located at the far northwest corner of the State of California on the Pacific adjacent to the Oregon border. Del Norte is the abbreviated Spanish nickname for "the land of the north" (la tierra del norte), and is known as "The Gateway to the Redwood Coast". Despite the Spanish etymology, the common pronunciation is to drop the trailing "e" and say "Del Nort". The county seat is Crescent City, the county's only incorporated city.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,230 square miles (3,185 km²), of which, 1,008 square miles (2,610 km²) of it is land and 222 square miles (575 km²) of it (18.05%) is water.

Del Norte county is located in the north west corner of California, on the Pacific ocean, near the Oregon border.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• North: Curry County, Ore.
• Northeast: Josephine County, Ore.
• East: Siskiyou County
• South: Humboldt County
• West: North Pacific Ocean

Education

Del Norte County is home to a satellite campus of College of the Redwoods, a two-year college based in Humboldt County.

Del Norte County has one of just five combined county office of education-unified school district learning educational agencies (LEA) in the state of California, with one elected Board of Trustees that serves both agencies, and one superintendent overseeing both the County Office of Education, and the Unified School District.

The Del Norte County Unified School District provides public education to the children of Del Norte County through the twelfth grade. The only high school in Del Norte County is Del Norte High School, whose school mascot is the Warrior. There are also five K-5 elementary schools (Bess Maxwell, Joe Hamilton, Margaret Keating, Mary Peacock, Pine Grove), three K-8 elementary schools (Mountain, Redwood, Smith River), and one middle school (Crescent Elk).

The County Office of Education provides special education services to the county, as well as alternative learning options that includes Community Day and juvenile detention. Alternative educational facilities are Bar-O Boys Camp, Del Norte Community Day, Elk Creek detention center, and Sunset Continuation High School.

Del Norte County has several private parochial schools and charter schools.

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