Anderson Valley
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Anderson Valley is a sparsely populated region in western Mendocino County in northern California. Located approximately 100 miles (160 km) north of San Francisco, the name "Anderson Valley" applies broadly to several rural, unincorporated communities in or near the alluvial terraces along Anderson Creek and other tributaries to the Navarro River.
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Geography
The name "Anderson Valley" applies to a region stretching from Yorkville (located on upper Rancheria Creek) through Boonville (located on Anderson Creek) and Philo (located on Indian Creek) to Navarro (located on Soda Creek). All four creeks are tributaries to the Navarro River, flowing north and west through the coastal range to the Pacific Ocean. The main stem of the Navarro River begins two miles west of Philo at the confluence of Rancheria and Anderson Creeks. The mouth of the Navarro is 15 miles (24 km) south of Mendocino, California. Encompassing 315 square miles (816 km²), the Navarro River watershed is the largest coastal basin in Mendocino County.
The area is not seismically active, though a minor fault runs along the Valley floor.
The climate is tempered by cool marine air. Strongly sloping to very steep hills and mountains surround nearly level to steep alluvial terraces. The natural vegetation is mainly redwood and Douglas-fir. Elevation ranges from sea level to 2,500 feet (760 m). The average annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 80 inches (900 to 2000 mm). The average annual temperature is about 53 °F (12 °C), and the average frost-free season ranges from 220 to 365 days. The summers are cool and moist with frequent fog.
History
Early Native American inhabitants of Anderson Valley were speakers of two of the seven Pomoan languages. The Late Pomo of what is now the Yorkville area spoke the central Pomo language. The Tabahtea (Tah-bah-tay) Pomo of the Boonville area west to Navarro spoke the Northern Pomo language. These residents occupied nineteen known village sites, with an estimated population of 600 in 1855. By 1900 no Native Americans resided in Anderson Valley.
The early European American settlers of Anderson Valley arrived after 1850. They practiced subsistence farming and expanded into resource extraction economies based on timber harvesting and livestock ranching. In 1880 a human population of around 1,000 maintained 75,000 head of sheep and 20,000 head of cattle. Commercial production of apples and hops began before the turn of the century, along with the development of Boontling, the local folk language. The 1940s and 1950s were the first boom years, when industrial automation and transportation enabled liquidation logging of the remaining redwood forests. More than 40 commercial lumber mills were established to work the brief timber boom.
By the 1960s the sheep, timber and apple industries were in substantial decline. Large tracts of land were subdivided. The first commercial vineyards for wine grapes were planted. Illegal marijuana production flourished with the influx of many new residents from the urban counterculture in the 1970s. (The Emerald Triangle subculture's infamous tolerance of substance abuse may have contributed to the later rise in the 1990s of local methamphetamine production and addiction.) By the 1980s the timber industry was reduced to two small specialty mills (lath and decorative fencing), the sheep industry to four working ranches of modest size, and the apple industry to a small fraction of its former production land. In 1989 Sean Donovan of Boonville established KZYX, a community-based non-commercial, National Public Radio affiliated station.
A wine boom began in the 1980s. This led to the establishment of a formal appellation for the Anderson Valley viticultural area. The wine industry is now the primary driver of the Anderson Valley economy. The major annual wine event is the Pinot Noir Festival at the County Fairgrounds in May. In addition to wine, there is a successful micro-brewery on the outskirts of Boonville. Like much of Mendocino County, the hospitality industry is a natural adjunct to boutique alcohol production. Fine restaurants and quality lodging are in good supply. The pleasant natural environment and rural lifestype also attracts artists, writers, musicians and a variety of skilled crafts people. As in other regions dependent upon a low-paid work force in the farm and service sector, there are signs of a degraded natural environment and poor living conditions for local employees.
Anderson Valley winemakers
- Christine Woods
- Claudia Springs
- Goldeneye (http://www.goldeneyewinery.com/)
- Greenwood Ridge Vineyards (http://www.greenwoodridge.com/)
- Handley Cellars (http://www.handleycellars.com/)
- Husch Vineyards (http://www.huschvineyards.com/)
- Lazy Creek Vineyards
- Navarro Vineyards (http://www.navarrowine.com/)
- Roederer Estate (http://www.roedererestate.net/)
- Scharffenberger Cellars
Communities
External links
- Anderson Valley Advertiser [1] (http://www.theava.com/) (the Valley's weekly newspaper)
- Anderson Valley Chamber of Commerce (http://www.andersonvalleychamber.com/)
- Anderson Valley Historical Society (http://www.andersonvalleymuseum.org/)
- Anderson Valley Unified School District (http://www.avusd.k12.ca.us/)
- Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association (http://www.avwines.com/)
- KZYX (http://www.kzyx.org/) (Mendocino County Public Broadcasting)