Alturas, California

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Alturas is a city and the seat of Modoc County, California. It is the home of Modoc National Forest Headquarters and the Bureau of Land Management's Area Office. The population of Alturas was 2,715 at the 2020 census.

In Modoc County, it is traditional for county seats to dry up and blow away. Of the two previous seats, Lake City is a respectable ghost town, but the only thing left of Centerville is the one-room school house. With a population of almost 3,000 and growing at almost 1% Alturas may be the next destination for Bay Area retirees with homes at $100K.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alturas,_California
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   41°29'24"N   120°32'41"W

Comments

  • Apparently the Pygmalion effect does not apply to Alturas, as the population is growing and Modoc County is gaining attention from high density areas. Check the 4 part video from BayAreaBackRoads.com ; an interesting area for high tech semi-retirees.
  • I learned that Alturas is one of the oldest towns in California. It is probably not going to disappear, since it hasn't yet. Besides it's the only real thing in Modoc County. When I went there, there was a sign that said "where the west still lives" and darn if that isn't true. They don't even have a Wal Mart there (at least, they didn't 5 years ago)
This article was last modified 6 months ago