Westwood, California

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This article is about the community in Lassen County. For the Los Angeles neighborhood, see Westwood, Los Angeles, California.

Coordinates: 40°18′18″N 121°0′12″W / 40.305, -121.00333
Westwood, California
Location in Lassen County and the state of California
Country	United States
State	California
County	Lassen
Area
- Total	5.5 sq mi (14.4 km²)
- Land	5.5 sq mi (14.3 km²)
- Water	0 sq mi (0.1 km²)
Elevation	5,128 ft (1,563 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	1,998
- Density	363.3/sq mi (138.8/km²)
Time zone	Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
- Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code	96137
Area code(s)	530
FIPS code	06-84928
GNIS feature ID	1660156

Westwood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lassen County, California, United States. The population was 1,998 at the 2000 census.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) has a Maintenance of Way station and a siding that is used to store BNSF snow fighting equipment.

1 History
- 1.1 Film history
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Politics
5 Media
6 Points of interest
7 External links
8 References

[edit] History

Westwood once had steam heated sidewalks. (True. The town was actually built by the Red River Lumber Co. when it had logged off as much in Minnesota as it could and then picked Lassen Co., Ca. for new logging operations. Steam pipes from the massive sawmill boiler were buried under all the sidewalks in town to prevent freezing up in the winter. Mrs. Walker, the wife of the owner, was a strict teetotaler and no alcohol whatsoever was allowed; employees drove to Susanville for a drink. Single men were put up in company-built bunkhouses/rooming houses, and homes were constructed (and ownership retained) by the Red River for those with families. Westwood was also the site of one of the early labor/union battles, when some wanted to organize with the CIO and others did not. At one point, all those men affiliated with union activities were rounded up throughout the town by so-called "vigilantes" ( local anti-union company men) and forced out of town on foot and told not to come back. This was all done as the local police and Highway Patrol watched from the side of the road. This is all recorded historical fact)^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Film history

Westwood was once featured on Ripley's Believe it or Not for being a town that had more dogs than people.^{[citation needed]} (While the veracity of this is open to verification, the presence of large numbers of stray dogs roaming the streets of Westwood is apparent to even the most casual visitor).

[edit] Geography

Westwood is located at 40°18′18″N, 121°0′12″W (40.305038, -121.003396)^[1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.5 square miles (14.3 km²), of which, 5.5 square miles (14.3 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.36%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 1,998 people, 795 households, and 520 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 362.5 people per square mile (140.0/km²). There were 1,048 housing units at an average density of 190.1/sq mi (73.4/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 88.39% White, 5.26% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.55% Pacific Islander, 2.70% from other races, and 2.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.51% of the population.

There were 795 households out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 31.4% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $24,148, and the median income for a family was $30,195. Males had a median income of $29,219 versus $23,646 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $13,178. About 16.7% of families and 22.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.0% of those under age 18 and 1.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Politics

In the state legislature Westwood is located in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Dave Cox, and in the 3rd Assembly District, represented by Republican Rick Keene. Federally, Westwood is located in California's 4th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +11^[3] and is represented by Republican John Doolittle.

[edit] Media

The primary local news source is the Westwood PinePress, a newspaper published every Wednesday.

[edit] Points of interest

Westwood is the site of Walker mansion and statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. The town of Westwood claims to be the hometown of Paul Bunyan. Westwood is located in Mountain Meadows and home of the Mountain Meadows Conservancy, a non-profit organization with the goal of protecting Westwood's rural culture, this very diverse collection of mountain habitats and its endangered species and sacred Maidu sites.