The Potter Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in northern Mendocino County, California centered around town of Potter Valley. The appellation is found east of the Redwood Valley AVA and has an elevation of around 200 feet (61 m) higher than surrounding areas. The influence of the nearby Eel River watershed has created conditions conducive to the production of botrytized wines - especially Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.^[2]

See also[link]

• Mendocino County wine

References[link]

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Potter Valley
—  census-designated place  —
Potter Valley Location in California
Coordinates: 39°19′20″N 123°06′47″W / 39.32222°N 123.11306°W / 39.32222; -123.11306Coordinates: 39°19′20″N 123°06′47″W / 39.32222°N 123.11306°W / 39.32222; -123.11306
Country	United States
State	California
County	Mendocino
Area[1]
• Total	4.058 sq mi (10.511 km2)
• Land	4.030 sq mi (10.437 km2)
• Water	0.028 sq mi (0.074 km2)  0.70%
Elevation[2]	948 ft (289 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	646
• Density	160/sq mi (61/km2)
Time zone	Pacific (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code	95469
Area code(s)	707
FIPS code	06-58506
GNIS feature IDs	265005; 2628779
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Potter Valley, California; U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Potter Valley, California

Potter Valley is a census-designated place^[3] in Mendocino County, California, United States.^[2] It is located 18 miles (29 km) north-northeast of Ukiah,^[4] at an elevation of 948 feet (289 m).^[2] It is located at the headwaters of the East Fork of the Russian River. The population was 646 at the 2010 census.

History[link]

In 1852, when William and Thomas Potter and Mose Briggs first entered what would be known as Potter Valley, they were searching for the headwaters of the Russian River from their base in Sonoma County. The Pomo people called it Ba-lo Kai. They found three Pomo villages (each about 500 people strong), the Russian headwaters, and a lush valley with wild oats "stirrup high". Eventually the Potters returned to settle there, and the valley became known by the American ranchers' name.^[5]

The post office opened in 1870.^[4]

Painter Grace Hudson was born in Potter Valley.^[6]

In addition to his famous Ridgewood Ranch, Charles S. Howard, owner of Seabiscuit, owned a ranch in Potter Valley, where he ran cattle and occasionally secluded Seabiscuit when visitors became bothersome.^[7]

Geography[link]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 4.1 square miles (10.5 km²), 99.30% of it land, and 0.70% of it water.

Demographics[link]

The 2010 United States Census^[8] reported that Potter Valley had a population of 646. The population density was 159.2 people per square mile (61.5/km²). The racial makeup of Potter Valley was 516 (79.9%) White, 2 (0.3%) African American, 13 (2.0%) Native American, 2 (0.3%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 97 (15.0%) from other races, and 16 (2.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 154 persons (23.8%).

The Census reported that 636 people (98.5% of the population) lived in households, 10 (1.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 241 households, out of which 73 (30.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 125 (51.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 20 (8.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 16 (6.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 20 (8.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0 (0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 61 households (25.3%) were made up of individuals and 22 (9.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64. There were 161 families (66.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.19.

The population was spread out with 142 people (22.0%) under the age of 18, 56 people (8.7%) aged 18 to 24, 156 people (24.1%) aged 25 to 44, 206 people (31.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 86 people (13.3%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.6 years. For every 100 females there were 105.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males.

There were 267 housing units at an average density of 65.8 per square mile (25.4/km²), of which 152 (63.1%) were owner-occupied, and 89 (36.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%; the rental vacancy rate was 10.0%. 382 people (59.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 254 people (39.3%) lived in rental housing units.

Politics[link]

In the state legislature Potter Valley is located in the 2nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Noreen Evans, and in the 1st Assembly District, represented by Democrat Wesley Chesbro. Federally, Potter Valley is located in California's 1st congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +10^[9] and is represented by Democrat Mike Thompson.

Geography[link]

Potter Valley is located just northeast of Ukiah and Lake Mendocino in Mendocino County, with the valley floor at roughly 1,000 ft (300 m) elevation. The headwaters of the East Fork of the Russian River originate in the valley. Additional water from the Eel River is pumped into the Russian River here via a controversial hydroelectric plant that tunnels through the mountains to take advantage of the relative proximity of these two waterways. This diversion supplies a significant amount of water to inland Mendocino and Sonoma Counties. Potter Valley is a rich agricultural region, with excellent soils, planted mostly in irrigated pasture, wine grapes, and pears, but supporting a wide variety of farms and ranches.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Potter Valley Bird Sightings
• Potter Valley American Viticultural Area
• Potter Valley Websites
• Potter Valley Community Unified School District
• Historical weather data from the Potter Valley Pumping Station
• Potter Valley Community Parks & Recreation
• Potter Valley Youth & Community Center
• Potter Valley Irrigation District

v t e Municipalities and communities of Mendocino County, California, United States County seat: Ukiah Cities Fort Bragg Point Arena Ukiah Willits CDPs Albion Anchor Bay Boonville Brooktrails Calpella Caspar Cleone Comptche Covelo Hopland Laytonville Leggett Little River Manchester Mendocino Philo Potter Valley Redwood Valley Talmage Unincorporated communities Alpine Andersonia Arnold Asylum Bell Springs Bowman Place Branscomb Bredehoft Place Burbeck Cameron Cape Horn Card Place Carpenter Place Clare Mill Cooks Valley Crowley Cubbler Place Cummings Dawes DeCamp DeHaven Delmonico Place Dos Rios Duncan Springs Dunlap Place El Roble Elk Fair Oaks Farley Fish Rock Flumeville Four Pines Gallaway Glenblair Grove Gualala Hales Grove Hardy Hardy Place Hays Place Hearst Heath Place Heeser Addition Hendy Grove Indian Springs Inglenook Ingram Irmulco Jim Leggett Place Kibesillah Largo Laughlin Little Penny Longvale Marble Place Marks Place McClure Place Melbourne Mina Montgomery Nacomis Indian Rancheria Nashmead Navarro Newport Northspur Noyo Oasis Old Bailey Place Old Hopland Old Ornbaun Hot Springs Old Red Rock Place O'Neil Place Orrs Springs Philbrick Mill Piercy Pieta Pine Grove Pomo Pratt Place Presswood Ralph Leggett Place Ramsey Redwood Lodge Reeves Place Regina Heights Reilly Heights Reyes Place Ridge Ridgewood Park Riverdale Shake City Simerson Soda Springs (Boonville) Soda Springs (Burbeck) South Fork South Leggett Spyrock Stronetta Tan Oak Park Tatu The Forks The Oaks Twin Rocks Ukiah Rancheria Underwood Park Union Landing Upp Vichy Springs Wanhala Westport Whiskey Springs Whitesboro Woodman Yorkville Indian reservations Coyote Valley Reservation Guidiville Rancheria Hopland Rancheria Iverson Indian Rancheria Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria Pinoleville Rancheria Potter Valley Rancheria Sherwood Valley Rancheria Redwood Valley Rancheria Round Valley Indian Reservation Former settlements Anderson Arthur Bentley Bokea Bucknell Buldam Cahto Carbon Carey Chomchadila Christine Christine Junction Clearbrook Comfort Crittendon Dapishul Dellavan Duffey Dunlap Echo Empire En Cimo Fairbanks Fountain Gracy Half Way Hardin Hermitage Iverson Junction Kenny Lane Redwood Flat Lema Masut Melborne Camp Mendocino Indian Reservation Moiya Muir Springs North Fork House Northwestern Noyo Lodge Ornbaun Poonkiny Rankin Redwine Reynolds River Garden Rockport Rodgers Rowes Salmon Creek Salsig Sawyers Sherburns Shiegho Signal Port Sunnyside Sylvandale Tilly Tolson Tomki Tomkiah Ubakhea Ulco Usal Wendling Wheeler Whitehall