Fillmore, California

Location of Fillmore, California

Fillmore is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 13,643 at the 2000 census.

Geography and Description

Fillmore is located at 34°24′5″N 118°55′4″W (34.401276, -118.917749)Template:GR. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.2 km² (2.8 mi²), all land.

Fillmore is a small valley town in Northern Ventura County just below the San Cayetano Mountain peak in the Los Padres National Forest. Fillmore is located in the Santa Clara River Valley. Fillmore is also located within an historic Ventura County agricultural and tree-farming belt. Educational facilities include one high school, one middle school, and 5 elementary schools. Sespe Condor Area, where the critically endangered California Condor are recovering, lies to the north. The nearby Sespe Creek is a tributary of the Santa Clara River.

Fillmore has classic "turn of the century" downtown architecture, a one-screen theatre, a thriving historic train depot, a much photographed city hall, and many unique shops and businesses, including a local winery operation. It is home to Elkins Ranch Golf Course. The small farming community of Bardsdale is located about three miles from Fillmore, directly across the Santa Clara River. Also located nearby are a fish hatchery and the Sespe Creek and Sespe Wilderness, home to the California Condor Sespe sanctuary.

Because of it's preserved downtown, Fillmore is a popular filming location for television and movies. The January 4th, 2006 episode of CSI entitled Leaving Las Vegas prominently featured old town Fillmore as the fictional town Larkston, Nevada.

File:City of Fillmore Panorama 010.jpg

Fillmore, CA, view from the Sespe River.

Industry and Economy

Fillmore's economy is still largely driven by agriculture. Most agricultural industry in the Fillmore area is related to orange, lemon, avocado orchard farming and packing and, more recently, specimen tree farming. To a lesser extent, row crop farming and small industry and assembly are also present in and near Fillmore and in other parts of the Santa Clara Valley. The single largest employer is the Fillmore Unified School District.

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Local Government

The City of Fillmore is an established municipality within Ventura County, founded in 1888. The city is governed by a five person council with the position of mayor rotating among the members on a yearly basis. Council members serve four year terms. As of December, 2007, the current mayor is Steve Conaway, and council members are Mayor (pro-tem) M. Cecilia Cuevas, Council members Raymond Dressler, Patti Walker, and Laurie Hernandez.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 13,643 people, 3,762 households, and 3,032 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,894.8/km² (4,910.8/mi²). There were 3,852 housing units at an average density of 535.0/km² (1,386.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 53.54% White, 0.32% African American, 1.41% Native American, 0.97% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 39.54% from other races, and 4.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 66.63% of the population.

There were 3,762 households out of which 45.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.3% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.4% were non-families. 16.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.56 and the average family size was 3.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 32.3% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 101.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $45,510, and the median income for a family was $47,449. Males had a median income of $34,441 versus $24,660 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,010. About 11.4% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.