Susanville, California

City of Susanville
City
Historic Uptown Susanville
Historic Uptown Susanville
Nickname: 
The Hub of Northeastern California
Location in Lassen County and the state of California
Location in Lassen County and the state of California
Susanville is located in California
Susanville
Susanville
Location within California
Susanville is located in the United States
Susanville
Susanville
Location within the United States
Coordinates: 40°24′59″N 120°39′11″W / 40.41639°N 120.65306°W / 40.41639; -120.65306
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyLassen
IncorporatedAugust 24, 1900[1]
Named forSusan Roop
Government
 • MayorMendy Schuster[2]
Area
[3]
 • Total8.03 sq mi (20.80 km2)
 • Land7.94 sq mi (20.58 km2)
 • Water0.09 sq mi (0.22 km2)  1.07%
Elevation
[4]
4,186 ft (1,276 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total16,728
 • Density2,106.80/sq mi (812.83/km2)
DemonymSusanvillain
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes
96127, 96130
Area code530
FIPS code06-77364
GNIS feature IDs277619, 2412017
Websitecityofsusanville.org
"Susanville" redirects here. For the unincorporated community in Oregon, see Susanville, Oregon.
Another view of Uptown Susanville

Susanville (formerly known as Rooptown)(Northeast Maidu: Pam Sewim K'odom, bush creek country)[5] is a city in and is the county seat of Lassen County, California, United States.[4] Susanville is located on the Susan River in the southern part of the county,[6] at an elevation of 4,186 feet (1,276 m).[4] Its population is 16,728 as of the 2020 census, down from 17,947 from the 2010 census. The Susanville urban area contains 8,995 people and 4,233 households.

Susanville, a former logging and mining town, is the site of the High Desert State Prison, California (not to be confused with High Desert State Prison, Nevada), which opened in 1995. The Federal Correctional Institution, Herlong is nearby, having opened in 2001.

The prisons and their effects on the community, including the addition of local jobs, were explored in the documentary Prison Town, USA (2007), aired on PBS.[7][8] Nearly half the adult population of Susanville works at the three prisons in the area, where 6,000 people are incarcerated.[9]

  1. ^ "California Cities by Incorporation Date". California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions. Archived from the original (Word) on November 3, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference cityofsusanville_citycouncil was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Susanville". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  5. ^ Simmons, W. S., Morales, R., Williams, V., & Camacho, S. (1997). Honey Lake Maidu Ethnogeography of Lassen County, California . Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 19(1), 2–31. ISSN 0191-3557 [1]
  6. ^ Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 423. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  7. ^ "Prison Town, USA]". Making Contact]. Season 11. Episode 31. July 30, 2008.
  8. ^ POV - Prison Town, pbs.org; retrieved May 13, 2010.
  9. ^ Taylor, Robert. "'Prison Town' a view from outside", Contra Costa Times, July 28, 2007; hosted at The Mercury News.