Ben Lomond, California

History

The nearby Ben Lomond Mountain was named after the mountain in Scotland by John Burns, a Scottish man who settled on the west side of the ridge in 1851. Burns became one of the first vintners in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and is usually also credited with naming the community of Bonny Doon. The San Lorenzo River watershed contains extensive forests of Coast redwood, and was an early center of the logging/lumber industry in Santa Cruz County. The community was originally known as Pacific Mills, after a sawmill operation located there. When, in 1887, the community applied for a U.S. Post Office, residents voted to adopt the name of the mountain.

Alba School, a one-room schoolhouse, was constructed in 1895 and was in use until 1940; it later served as a library and a community center. It was destroyed in the CZU Lightning Complex fires in August 2020.

Geography

Ben Lomond is located on State Highway 9, about 12 mi from Santa Cruz and 34 mi from San Jose (the nearest major city) at (37.09, -122.09). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.4 sqmi. The San Lorenzo River runs through it, in what is known locally as the San Lorenzo Valley, which runs SE–NW to the east of Ben Lomond Mountain (in actuality a long ridge whose highest point has an elevation of 2660 ft).

Northeast of Ben Lomond is Loch Lomond, a reservoir built on Newell Creek and named after the original Loch Lomond in Scotland.

Climate

The National Weather Service has kept weather records for Ben Lomond since 1937. The Western Climate Center reports that Ben Lomond has an average annual rainfall of 49.63 in and an average annual snowfall of 0.1 in

The surrounding mountains and hills trapping heat allow for the summers to become considerably warmer than the surrounding locations despite the area being near the bay and ocean. As a result, summer highs have averages near 90 F and can even reach more than 100 F. In addition, frost in winter nights are more common than the surrounding areas as the higher elevation and lack of a maritime effect allow for cooler overnight temperatures to occur.

The record high temperature was 121 F on September 6, 2020, and the record low temperature was 15 F on December 22, 1990. There are an average of 53.6 days annually with highs of 90 F or higher and 36.6 days with lows of 32 F or lower.

The wettest year was 1983, with 100.37 in of precipitation and the driest year was 2013, with 7.71 in. The most precipitation in one month was 35.77 in in December 1955. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 11.47 in on January 4, 1982. There are an average of 76 days with measurable precipitation. The heaviest 24-hour snowfall was 2.0 in on January 21, 1962.

|Jan record high F = 87 |Feb record high F = 91 |Mar record high F = 94 |Apr record high F = 100 |May record high F = 106 |Jun record high F = 113 |Jul record high F = 113 |Aug record high F = 113 |Sep record high F = 121 |Oct record high F = 112 |Nov record high F = 96 |Dec record high F = 85

|Jan avg record high F = 75.6 |Feb avg record high F = 79.2 |Mar avg record high F = 84.2 |Apr avg record high F = 91.3 |May avg record high F = 94.3 |Jun avg record high F = 100.1 |Jul avg record high F = 101.9 |Aug avg record high F = 102.7 |Sep avg record high F = 103.8 |Oct avg record high F = 97.9 |Nov avg record high F = 86.1 |Dec avg record high F = 74.1 |year avg record high F = 107.5

|Jan avg record low F = 26.6 |Feb avg record low F = 28.3 |Mar avg record low F = 30.2 |Apr avg record low F = 32.5 |May avg record low F = 36.8 |Jun avg record low F = 39.9 |Jul avg record low F = 43.8 |Aug avg record low F = 42.9 |Sep avg record low F = 39.5 |Oct avg record low F = 34.0 |Nov avg record low F = 29.1 |Dec avg record low F = 25.9 |year avg record low F = 24.3

|Jan record low F = 18 |Feb record low F = 20 |Mar record low F = 25 |Apr record low F = 25 |May record low F = 29 |Jun record low F = 31 |Jul record low F = 39 |Aug record low F = 31 |Sep record low F = 28 |Oct record low F = 26 |Nov record low F = 25 |Dec record low F = 15

|access-date = April 30, 2023 |access-date = April 30, 2023

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1850–1870 1880-1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Ben Lomond first appeared as an unincorporated community in the 1970 U.S. census; and as a census-designated place in the 1980 United States census.

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Ben Lomond had a population of 6,337. The population density was 757.2 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Ben Lomond was 83.3% White, 0.5% African American, 0.8% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.3% from other races, and 10.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.6% of the population.

The census reported that 99.0% of the population lived in households, 1.0% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.

There were 2,492 households, out of which 27.1% included children under the age of 18, 53.0% were married-couple households, 7.9% were cohabiting couple households, 20.9% had a female householder with no partner present, and 18.1% had a male householder with no partner present. 22.5% of households were one person, and 9.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.52.

The age distribution was 18.1% under the age of 18, 6.4% aged 18 to 24, 24.2% aged 25 to 44, 30.9% aged 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 45.8years. For every 100 females, there were 99.3 males.

There were 2,620 housing units at an average density of 313.1 /mi2, of which 2,492 (95.1%) were occupied. Of these, 74.7% were owner-occupied, and 25.3% were occupied by renters.

2023 estimates

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 13.4% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 80.5% spoke only English at home, 3.5% spoke Spanish, 14.0% spoke other Indo-European languages, 1.1% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 1.0% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 97.2% were high school graduates and 46.2% had a bachelor's degree.

The median household income was $120,977, and the per capita income was $62,910. About 0.0% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line.

Business

Love Creek is on the east side of the business district of Ben Lomond, along Highway 9.

Government

In the California State Legislature, Ben Lomond is in , and in .

In the United States House of Representatives, Ben Lomond is in .

Transportation

Santa Cruz Metro Transit Bus Route 35 and 35E goes through Ben Lomond.

Notable people

• Guillermo Wagner Granizo (1923–1995) ceramic tile muralist, lived in Ben Lomond from the 1970s until 1980.
• Jim Jeffries (1875–1953), boxer, trained in the 1940s at the now defunct Wagon Wheel Bar and Restaurant.

References

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
3. Clark, Donald T. ''Santa Cruz County Place Names'', Kestrel Press, 2008, {{ISBN. 978-1-880478-02-8, p.22
4. Robinson, Lisa. ''The San Lorenzo Valley'', Arcadia Publications, 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cxFqY-ZNXHIC&q=Alba+School p. 97].
5. [https://www.albaschoolhouse.com/ Alba Schoolhouse.com], retrieved August 24, 2020.
6. (August 21, 2020). "63,000 acres burn in Santa Cruz Mountains, containment increases to 5%".
7. (2011-02-12). "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". [[United States Census Bureau]].
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17. "1940 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
18. "1950 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - California".
19. "1960 Census of Population - General population Characteristics - California".
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23. "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - California".
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25. "Ben Lomond CDP, California; DP1: Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
26. "Ben Lomond CDP, California; P16: Household Type - 2020 Census of Population and Housing".
27. "Ben Lomond CDP, California; CP02: Comparative Social Characteristics in the United States - 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates Comparison Profiles".
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29. "Final Maps {{!}} California Citizens Redistricting Commission".
30. {{Cite GovTrack. CA. 19
31. (1981-07-20). "Civic Auditorium Mural to be Unveiled in August". Santa Cruz Sentinel.