Map of Sierra City CDP

Sierra City (Sierra, Spanish for “mountain range”) is a census-designated place in Sierra County, California, United States. The elevation of Sierra City is 4,147 feet (1,264 m), and the town is situated in the canyon of the North Yuba River on California State Route 49, twelve miles northeast of the county seat of Sierra County, Downieville. The population was 221 at the 2010 census.

Sierra City CDP overview:
Name:	Sierra City CDP
LSAD Code:	57
LSAD Description:	CDP (suffix)
State:	California
County:	Sierra County
Elevation:	4,147 ft (1,264 m)
Total Area:	2.151 sq mi (5.571 km²)
Land Area:	2.151 sq mi (5.570 km²)
Water Area:	0.000 sq mi (0.001 km²) 0.01%
Total Population:	221
Population Density:	100/sq mi (40/km²)
FIPS code:	0671778
GNISfeature ID:	2583139

Online Interactive Map

Sierra City online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Sierra City location map. Where is Sierra City CDP?

Sierra City location on the U.S. Map. Where is Sierra City CDP. — Sierra City location on the U.S. Map.

Sierra City location on the California map. Where is Sierra City CDP. — Location of Sierra City in California.

History

Before the California Gold Rush, only Native Americans had ventured into the area, which lies northwest of Lake Tahoe on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, and which lay between areas inhabited by Maidu, Nisenan, and Washo peoples (Pre-Contact Tribal Map). The area is now part of the Tahoe National Forest.

A settlement was established in 1850 by Philo A. Haven and Joseph Zumwalt, who were also involved with the settling of Downieville (Sinnott). In the Winter of 1852-53, however, an avalanche of snow destroyed the settlement, which was not rebuilt for several years. Ferdinand, Gustav, and Christian Reis purchased several mining claims near the Sierra Buttes and began to resettle Sierra City, which had a peak population of 3,000 during the decade after gold was discovered in California (1849).

Numerous hard-rock gold mines were developed on both sides of the North Yuba River Canyon near Sierra City. These include the Colombo Mine, the Independence Mine, the Keystone Mine, the Monumental Mine, the Great Sierra Buttes Mine, and the William Tell Mine. The Monumental Nugget, weighing over 106 pounds avoirdupois, was recovered in September 1869.

Placer mining was also practiced and continues today on the banks of the North Yuba. On February 10, 1963, Alec M. Ostrom of Sierra City discovered a nugget weighing 8 troy ounces while placer mining (Sinnott.)

Sierra City Road Map

Sierra City Satellite Map

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 2.2 square miles (5.6 km), 99.99% of it land and 0.01% of it water.

Sierra City has a mediterranean continental climate (Koppen: Dsb). Summers are hot and dry, while winters are mild, wet and very snowy, with annual snowfall averaging 107 inches (272 cm).