Big Creek (Big Creek Flats in the 1870s; Manzanita Park in 1902; until 1926, Cascada) is a small census-designated place in Fresno County, California, located in the Sierra Nevada on the north bank of Big Creek. It lies at an elevation of above sea level. As of the 2020 census, Big Creek had a population of 151. The ZIP code is 93605, and the community is inside area code 559. History
Big Creek was built at the site of the first dam and power plant of Southern California Edison's Big Creek Hydroelectric Project, one of the most extensive in the world. Other than the private helipad owned by Southern California Edison, the only way in or out of the town is Big Creek Road, off of State Route 168. The dam has a walkway across it to the south bank, but access is limited to employees of SCE and those residents who have been given a key. Its major industries are electric power generation and tourism. There is camping and water recreation in the summer and snow skiing in the winter. Huntington Lake is to the northeast and Shaver Lake is to the south. China Peak is only about away. Though Big Creek's only school is an elementary, it teaches kindergarten through 8th grade.
The penstock pipes for the original two units at Big Creek Power Houses One and Two, built 1912–13, were purchased from the Krupp Works in Germany because at that time that manufacturer produced steel pipes of the tensile strength needed to contain the very high water pressures in the pipes in the drop down to Power House One. All post-World War One penstock pipes were manufactured in the United States.From David H. Redinger, The Story of Big Creek, revised edition (Glendale: Trans-Anglo Books, 1986) ; William A. Myers, Iron Men and Copper Wires, A Centennial History of the Southern California Edison Company (Glendale: Trans-Anglo Books, 1983) ; also notes from interview with David H. Redinger, 1975.
The first post office opened at Big Creek in 1912.
Half the town's homes were destroyed by the 2020 Creek Fire.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Big Creek had a population of 151, with a population density of . The median age was 39.5 years. The age distribution was as follows: 46 people (30.5%) under the age of 18, 11 people (7.3%) aged 18 to 24, 34 people (22.5%) aged 25 to 44, 33 people (21.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 27 people (17.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. There were 73 males and 78 females. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.4 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
The whole population lived in households. There were 58 households in Big Creek, of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 48.3% were married-couple households, 3.4% were cohabiting couple households, 29.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 19.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 41.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60. There were 34 families (58.6% of all households).
There were 123 housing units at an average density of , of which 52.8% were vacant. Of the occupied units, 26 (44.8%) were owner-occupied and 32 (55.2%) were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 3.0%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 117 77.5% Black or African American 0 0.0% American Indian and Alaska Native 5 3.3% Asian 3 2.0% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.0% Some other race 7 4.6% Two or more races 19 12.6% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 12 7.9% 2010 census
Big Creek first appeared as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. census.
Education It is in the Big Creek Elementary School District and the Sierra Unified School District for grades 9-12 only. - Text list
References
External links Big Creek Demographics The Big Creek Project
See also San Joaquin and Eastern Railroad