Byron is a census designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, Byron had a population of 1,140.
History
Byron's location was part of a land grant that Jose Noriega received from the King of Spain in 1835. Noriega then sold 17,000 acres to John Marsh for the equivalent of $500 (three U.S. cents per acre). In 1841, the Bidwell-Bartelson wagon train arrived at Marsh's ranch with the earliest Anglo settlers from the east.
Byron's first post office opened in 1878.
In 1960, Contra Costa County built the Orin Allen Youth Rehabilitation Center, better known informally as the Boys' Ranch on a tract immediately southeast of Byron. The Boys' Ranch is a minimum-security facility that houses up to 100 youthful offenders. The property has no security fence to contain residents within the perimeter and includes dormitories, classrooms, a kitchen and dining facility, athletic facilities and administrative offices which occupy about one-third of the area. Its objective was stated as rehabilitation, rather than simply detention.
In 2008, a Contra Costa County Grand Jury began an investigation into whether the facility was cost-effective, or whether it should be permanently closed. It began by conducting an unannounced site inspection in September, 2008. In 2009, it released its report to the county commissioners. The report identified 21 defects at the facility that needed correction.
Climate
This region experiences hot and dry summers, with average monthly high temperatures varying from 55 degrees in January to 93 degrees in July. Byron is windy, and dust devils sometimes appear. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Byron has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.
Gallery
<gallery>
File:Byron-Trainwreck.jpg|The San Francisco Call reporting the Byron Train Disaster, December 1902
File:Byron, California. Farm families of Japanese ancestry boarding buses for Turlock Assembly center 65 . . . - NARA - 537458.tif|Families of Japanese ancestry being removed from Byron during World War II
File:Byron Main Street 002.jpg|Main Street, Byron, California 2008
</gallery>
Demographics
Byron first appeared as a census designated place in the 2000 U.S. census.
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020
!% 2000
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|589
|666
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |509
|64.30%
|52.15%
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |44.65%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|40
|59
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |24
|4.37%
|4.62%
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |2.11%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|10
|4
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |8
|1.09%
|0.31%
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |0.70%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|20
|4
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |5
|2.18%
|0.31%
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |0.44%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|2
|10
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |3
|0.22%
|0.78%
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |0.26%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |0
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |0.00%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|18
|31
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |15
|1.97%
|2.43%
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |1.32%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|237
|503
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |576
|25.87%
|39.39%
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |50.53%
|-
|Total
|916
|1,277
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |1,140
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style="background: #ffffe6;" |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Byron had a population of 1,140 and a population density of .
There were 374 households, out of which 34.2% included children under the age of 18, 55.6% were married-couple households, 5.6% were cohabiting couple households, 21.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 17.9% of households were one person, and 7.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.0. There were 285 families (76.2% of all households).
There were 377 housing units at an average density of , of which 374 (99.2%) were occupied. Of these, 66.6% were owner-occupied, and 33.4% were occupied by renters. 0.8% of housing units were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 0.0%. There are only one 6–8 school in the Byron district, Excelsior Middle School. Discovery Bay Elementary and Timber Point Elementary is located in Discovery Bay and is the district's K–5 schools.
Former resort
Byron, California is also home to the somewhat well-known and historical Byron Hot Springs, a now-abandoned resort that was a retreat that attracted many movie stars and famous athletes in the early 1900s. The first hotel was built around 57 hot springs and owned by Lewis Mead in 1889. The hotel included a three-story wood building, with a few cottages scattered nearby, as well as a laundry, gas plant and ice plant, all of which were destroyed by fire on July 25, 1901. A second hotel, also three stories, but made of stucco was constructed 1901–1902, but it burned on July 18, 1912. The third and final hotel, a four-story brick structure was built in 1913, reopened in 1914.
In 1938 the resort closed, after a series of lawsuits that were probably brought about by the Great Depression, but was leased by the government in 1941 and became a military interrogation camp housing both German and Japanese prisoners of war, known as Camp Tracy, until 1945, when orders were sent to dismantle it.
In 1947 Byron Hot Springs was put up for sale and purchased by the Greek Orthodox Church for $105,000. It served as Monastery St. Paul for several years. It then changed hands several times as a resort, country club, and private residence. In 2008, a developer announced plans to restore the resort. a Byron Hot Springs website retains a "Resort Plans" page for the restoration of Byron Hot Springs.
In 2005, a Victorian-era carriage house on the property was burned to the ground. The hotel itself sustained some fire damage, but still stands.
Byron Hot Springs is south-southeast of Byron. It has also been used for illegal drag races in the past.
Notes
References
External links
- Byron Hot Springs
- Reclamation District 800
- Byron Hot Springs