Kenwood, California
Encyclopedia
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
town and census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) in Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, located on Sonoma Highway (State Route 12) between the cities Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
and Sonoma
Sonoma, California
Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
. It lies east of Sonoma Creek
Sonoma Creek
Sonoma Creek is a stream in northern California. It is one of two principal drainages of southern Sonoma County, California, with headwaters rising in the rugged hills of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and discharging to San Pablo Bay, the northern arm of San Francisco Bay. The watershed drained by...
in the upper part of Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Valley is the birthplace of the California wine industry and often called The Valley of the Moon. Sonoma Valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards and wineries in the state, some of which survived the phylloxera epidemic of the 1870s and the impact of Prohibition...
, a region sometimes called the Valley of the Moon. Bennett Mountain lies west of the town, and Sugarloaf Ridge to the northeast. The population was 1,028 at the 2010 census.
Like all of Sonoma County, Kenwood is considered part of the Wine Country. Viticulturally, it lies in the Sonoma Valley AVA
Sonoma Valley AVA
The Sonoma Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Sonoma County, California, USA which centers on the Sonoma Valley in the southern portion of the county...
. The Kenwood area is known for vineyards and wineries, restaurants, and a European-style resort. An area landmark is the Kunde Estate Winery on Sonoma Highway, which was first planted in 1879.
Parks
Kenwood Plaza Park, located two blocks south of State Route 12 at 200 Warm Springs Road and Shaw Park, which is located at 100 Shaw Ave also off State Route 12. Both are managed by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department.Annadel State Park
Annadel State Park
Annadel State Park is a state park of California, USA, situated at the northern edge of Sonoma Valley and offering many recreational activities within its property...
lies to the west, Hood Mountain Regional Park lies to the north, and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park is a state park in Northern California, U.S.A.. Located in the Mayacamas Mountains north of Kenwood, the park straddles the boundary between Sonoma and Napa counties...
lies to the northeast.
History
Kenwood is located on the Rancho Los GuilicosRancho Los Guilicos
Rancho Los Guilicos was a Mexican land grant in present day Sonoma County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to John Wilson...
Mexican land grant. In 1887, the Sonoma Land & Improvement Company, which owned the property on which the town now sits, laid out lots in anticipation of the railroad which would arrive the following year. The infant community tried on many names: Rohrerville, for one of the owners of the land company; Los Guilicos, and then South Los Guilicos, for the Mexican land grant.
A number of townspeople were unhappy, complaining the "Guilicos" was hard to pronounce. Around 1895 a vote was taken to change the name again. One story says that Kenwood won because many of the settlers had come from Kenwood
Kenwood, Chicago
Kenwood, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the 77 well-defined Chicago community areas.Kenwood was part of Hyde Park Township, which was annexed by the City of Chicago in 1889....
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Another traces the choice to the fact that many landowners in the area were from old English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
families and so were familiar with London's
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
Kenwood House
Kenwood House
Kenwood House is a former stately home, in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. It is managed by English Heritage.-History:...
. It is possible that both stories are true, and the name's permanence stemmed from its acceptability to different groups.
Ray Flugger founded Flowmaster, Inc.
Flowmaster
Flowmaster, Inc. is a specialty performance aftermarket exhaust parts manufacturer. The company has two locations totaling over in Santa Rosa, California and West Sacramento, California. It was founded in 1983 by Ray Flugger...
in 1983 while working out of a small barn in Kenwood.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP covers an area of 5.2 square miles (13.4 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Kenwood had a population of 1,028. The population densityPopulation density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 199.1 people per square mile (76.9/km²). The racial makeup of Kenwood was 930 (90.5%) White, 1 (0.1%) African American, 1 (0.1%) Native American, 23 (2.2%) Asian, 2 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 45 (4.4%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 26 (2.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 79 persons (7.7%).
The Census reported that 98.0% of the population lived in households and 2.0% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.
There were 467 households, out of which 90 (19.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 234 (50.1%) were opposite-sex married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 31 (6.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 21 (4.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 28 (6.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
POSSLQ
POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....
, and 12 (2.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 140 households (30.0%) were made up of individuals and 66 (14.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16. There were 286 families
Family (U.S. Census)
A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...
(61.2% of all households); the average family size was 2.65.
The population was spread out with 148 people (14.4%) under the age of 18, 54 people (5.3%) aged 18 to 24, 153 people (14.9%) aged 25 to 44, 432 people (42.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 241 people (23.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53.7 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.
There were 552 housing units at an average density of 106.9 per square mile (41.3/km²), of which 73.0% were owner-occupied and 27.0% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.3%. 71.7% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 26.3% lived in rental housing units.
Telephony
Western California Telephone Company provided telephone service to Kenwood, Los GatosLos Gatos, California
The Town of Los Gatos is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 29,413 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area at the southwest corner of San Jose in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains...
, Morgan Hill
Morgan Hill, California
Morgan Hill is a city located in the southern part of Santa Clara County, California, United States. Founded on November 10, 1906, the city was named after Hiram Morgan Hill, a San Franciscan who built a country retreat home there in 1884...
and Novato
Novato, California
Novato is a city located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in northern Marin County. Novato is located about north-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 30 feet above sea level . The 2010 U.S. Census estimated the city population to be about 51,904. Novato is about ...
. In the 1970s it was acquired by General Telephone, (later GTE and then Verizon). These four areas are now all served by Verizon
Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc. is a global broadband and telecommunications company and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
. Part of Oakmont, a large residential development within the city limits of Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
, is actually inside the Verizon service area, causing that portion to have Kenwood prefixes
Telephone prefix
A telephone prefix is the first set of digits of a telephone number; in the North American Numbering Plan countries , it is the first three digits out of a seven-digit phone number...
. The area code for Kenwood is 707
Area code 707
North American area code 707 is a Californian telephone area code which covers Napa, Sebastopol, Vallejo, Benicia, Fairfield, Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Fort Bragg, Crescent City, Eureka, Clearlake, Vacaville, Ukiah, and northwestern California. It was split from area code 415 on March 1, 1959...
.