Rio Dell, California

Rio Dell was founded and named by businessman Lorenzo Painter, who devised the name as a merging of Spanish río ("river") and English dell ("small wooded valley"). Originally settled on the territories of the Wiyot, Nongatl, and Mattole tribes, Rio Dell was reportedly first dubbed "Tokemuk" by native inhabitants of the land who were thought to be of multiple regional tribes and who uniquely spoke at least two different regional languages. The native presence was greatly diminished following the 1860 Wiyot massacre on Indian Island that extended south to the Eel river valley where Rio Dell is located. From there, the area became known as Eagle Prairie and finally as Rio Dell. The first post office at Rio Dell opened in 1876. After the first bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1905, a ferry carried mill workers from Rio Dell upstream to Scotia, and a second ferry carried mill workers downstream to Metropolitan until a suspension bridge was built to Scotia in 1914. The fire endangered the bridge to Scotia and prevented the Scotia Fire Department from crossing the bridge to help extinguish the fire. ==Geography==

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 5.61%, is water. Climate This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above . According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Rio Dell has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csb on climate maps. ==Demographics==

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Rio Dell had a population of 3,379. The population density was . The age distribution was 22.6% under the age of 18, 8.1% aged 18 to 24, 28.7% aged 25 to 44, 22.3% aged 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 38.0years. For every 100 females, there were 99.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.3 males age 18 and over. Income and poverty In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $46,055, and the per capita income was $24,427. About 9.1% of families and 12.8% of the population were below the poverty line. 2010 census At the 2010 census Rio Dell had a population of 3,368. The population density was . The racial makeup of Rio Dell was 2,894 (85.9%) White, 13 (0.4%) African American, 125 (3.7%) Native American, 25 (0.7%) Asian, 3 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 140 (4.2%) from other races, and 168 (5.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 384 people (11.4%). The census reported that 3,347 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 21 (0.6%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 1,367 households, 440 (32.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 560 (41.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 199 (14.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 85 (6.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 131 (9.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 13 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 409 households (29.9%) were one person and 139 (10.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.45. There were 844 families (61.7% of households); the average family size was 2.99. The age distribution was 803 people (23.8%) under the age of 18, 309 people (9.2%) aged 18 to 24, 824 people (24.5%) aged 25 to 44, 989 people (29.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 443 people (13.2%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 38.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males. There were 1,442 housing units at an average density of , of which 1,367 were occupied, 774 (56.6%) by the owners and 593 (43.4%) by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.8%. 1,952 people (58.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,395 people (41.4%) lived in rental housing units. ==Government==

Local government Rio Dell has a council–manager form of government. The City Council sets policy, while the City Manager carries out the day-to-day business of the city. The Mayor is selected by the City Council and serves as the presiding officer at city council meetings, and as the official head of the city for legislative and ceremonial purposes. As of 2025, the Rio Dell City Council consisted of Mayor Debra Garnes, Amanda Carter, Julie Woodall, Robert Orr, and Frank Wilson. The City Manager is Kyle Knopp. State and federal representation In the state legislature, Rio Dell is in , and . Federally, Rio Dell is in . ==References==