Saint Helena

St. Helena (h-LEE-n; Wappo: Anakotanoma) is a city in Napa County, in the Wine Country of California. Located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the population was 5,814 at the 2010 census. The city is the center of St. Helena American Viticultural Area (AVA), which expands 9,060 acres (14 sq mi) of the Napa Valley with over 400 vineyards. The locale became renown when White Sulphur Springs was discovered in 1848 and established an operating resort in 1852. At its prime, California's oldest resort was able to accommodate 1000 guests in its grand hotels which were later lost to local wildfires. It is a popular tourist destination, owing to its vineyards and culinary scene. The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and a campus of Napa valley College are located in the city. The town of St Helena was founded by Henry Still, who bought land from the Edward Bale family in 1855. By 1858 there was a school house and a little Baptist church. In 1868, the first railroad was created in St Helena allowing for shipment of resources such as fruit and mining products. Both the Beringer Vineyards and the Charles Krug Winery are California Historical Landmarks. The most snowfall in one month was 4.0 inches (0.1 mm) on March 2, 1976. The wettest year was 1983 with 75.40 inches (1,915 mm) and the driest month was February 1986.

History

St. Helena was first inhabited by a native American group known as the Wappo people. The locale became renown when White Sulphur Springs was discovered in 1848 and established an operating resort in 1852. It officially became a town on March 24, 1876, and by 1886 the population grew to 1,800 inhabitants.Ellen White, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, had a home called Elmshaven near St. Helena, beginning in 1900. She died there in 1915, and the site is now a National Historic Landmark. Both the Beringer Vineyards and the Charles Krug Winery are California Historical Landmarks. The town's community center was built as a Carnegie library; it served as the city library from 1908 to 1978. It is believed that the area was likely named after a nearby mountain known as Mount St Helena. The area was also known as Anakotanoma, which means "Bull Snake Village" and is believed to have been settled as early as 2000 B.C. At its prime, California's oldest resort was able to accommodate 1000 guests in its grand hotels which were later lost to local wildfires. The site is recognized as a National historic site and is located in the town of St Helena, California, which was founded by Henry Still in 1855. In 1858 there was a school house and a little Baptist church. Four years later Professor William Brewer of the Whitney party called it a "pretty little village with fifty or more houses...nestled among grand old oaks".

Geography

The National Weather Service has a cooperative weather station in St. Helena. Winters are cool and wet, while summers have hot days and cool nights with little precipitation. Average annual precipitation is 36.64 inches (931 mm) There are an average of 68 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1983 with 75.40 inches (1,915 mm) and the driest was 1976 with 10.41 inches (264 mm) The most rainfall in 24 hours was 6.83 inches (173 mm) on January 21, 1967. The most snowfall in one month was 4.0 inches (100 mm), recorded in January 1974 and again in March 1976. The record high temperature was 115 °F (46 °C) on July 13, 1972, and the record low temperature was 11 °F [12 °C] on December 11, 1932. There is an annual average snowfall of 0.2-inch (5.1 mm) Although snow rarely falls in St Helena, there is an averageSnowfall of 1.2 inches (4.5 mm) in January. The average temperature for the month of February is 25.60 inches (650 mm), and for the entire month of March it is 24.50 inches (76.2 mm). The average annual rainfall for the whole year is 24 inches (75.4 inches) and for February it is 22.6 inches (74.5 inches) The average rainfall in one day is 6.3 inches (170 mm).

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that St. Helena had a population of 5,814. The population was spread out, with 1,280 people (22.0%) under the age of 18, 453 people (7.8%) aged 18 to 24, 1,333 people (22.9%) aged 25 to 44, 1, 627 people (28.0) aged 45 to 64, and 1,121 people (19.3%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.9 years. There were 2,776 housing units at an average density of 552.3 per square mile (213.2/km²), of which 55.4% were owner-occupied and 44.6% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.7%; the rental vacancy ratewas 5.8%. 51.4 per cent of the population lived in owner- occupied housing units and 46.9 per cent lived in rental housing units. The city is located on the shores of Lake St. Helen, which was once a tributary of the Helena River. The town's name is derived from the word "helena" which means "gold" or "heart" in Spanish. It is also known as the "Helena River" or the "St. Helena River" because it runs through the center of the city. It was once known as "The Helena River", and was once the source of the St Helena River, which ran through the town.

Economy

Major employers in St. Helena include Trinchero Family Estates, Beringer Vineyards, and The Culinary Institute of America. The city is distinct in its regulation against chain restaurants; only one exists in the city - an A&W - established before the legislation was enacted. Duckhorn Vineyards, Newton Vineyard, Charles Krug Winery, Brown Estate and numerous other vineyards and wineries exist near St.Helena. Adventist Health St. Helen's is located in neighboring Deer Park, California. The St. Helen AVA was designated in 1995 for the valley region surrounding the town. The AVA is for the area surrounding the city that includes Duckhorn, Newton, and Charles Krug Vineyards and other wineries. The town has a population of about 2,000 people. It is located on the San Francisco Bay Area's San Francisco Peninsula, near the town of San Francisco and the city of San Diego. The population of Deer Park is about 1,500 people, with the majority of the population living in the Deer Park section of the city. The area is known for its vineyards, with Duckhorn and Newton Vineyards being two of the biggest employers in the area. It also has a number of wineries, including Brown Estate, which was established in the 1970s and is located near the city's central business district. St. helen's is home to the California State University, San Diego, which has a campus of the University of California, San Francisco.

Government

St. Helena is a general law city which lacks its own charter. It operates under a councilmanager form of government. In the California State Legislature, it is in the 3rd Senate District, represented by Democrat Bill Dodd, and in the 4th Assembly District. It is in California's 5th congressional district, represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democrat Mike Thompson. St. Helena was founded in 1838. It was named after the town of St Helena, in the present-day state of California. The city is located in the Central Coast region of California, and is located on the Pacific Coast. It has a population of around 2,000 people. It lies in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, near the border with Bakersfield, and the northern edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The town is located near the California-Nevada border, where it is part of California's Central Coast and Northern Sierra regions. It also has a small portion of the Northern California region, which is also known as the "Central Coast" region. The City of St.Helena is home to a small community college, St. Helen's College, which was established in 1858. The school was founded by the Sisters of Mercy, who moved from San Francisco in 1859. The University of California at San Francisco is located nearby, and has a campus of the College of Arts and Sciences, which opened in 1883. The college is now the University of San Francisco. It holds a number of state and local government offices.

Education

The city has two tertiary campuses, one is the Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College; the other is The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, a branch campus of the main institution in Hyde Park, New York. Saint Helena Unified School District is the local school district. St. Helena High School serves students in grades 9-12. The city has a teacher to student ratio of 13:1. It is ranked #1 best public school in the Napa valley. It has two elementary schools and one middle school. It also has a primary school and a high school. The town is home to the U.S. Air Force Academy and the University of California, San Francisco. It was the site of the first air force base in the United States. The U.N. has a base in San Francisco and a military base in Livermore, California. It's also home to a number of colleges and universities, including California State University, Northridge, and the California Institute of the Arts. The school district has a population of 2,000,000. It had an enrollment of 3,500,000 in the 2010-11 school year. The district has two high schools and two middle schools, one for grades 6-8 and the other for grades 5-8. The high school has a student to teacher ratio of more than 10 to 1. The elementary school has an average student-to-teacher ratio of less than one to one. It teaches grades three through five.

In popular culture

"Pollyanna" was filmed on Railroad Avenune in Saint Helena in 1960. The Elvis Presley 1961 release, "Wild in the Country", was filmed in a small Saint Helena house now known as a popular inn called The Ink House. The "When Death Comes Calling" episode (S6.E2, 2013) of My Ghost Story was filmed at a winery in the city. The movie "Patch Adams" (1989) starring Robin Williams had a scene filmed at the picturesque cemetery in St. Helena. "A Walk in the Clouds" (1995) was filmed for a love story involving a daughter of a vineyard owner in northern Saint Helena. A scene from the movie was also filmed in the same area of the city for a scene in the film "The Godfather: Part II" The movie was shot at a house in the north of the island that is now a popular tourist attraction. The film was released in the U.S. in 1998 and has since been re-released on Blu-ray and DVD. The U.K. version of the film is released in 2009 and is available on DVD and Blu-Ray. It is available in the UK for £16.99 and £20.99 in the United States for the same price. The UK version is available for £20 and £25.99 for the UK and £30 for the US versions of the DVD and £35 for the DVD.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Saint Helena, Contra Costa County, California = 96.4. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 27. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 90. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Saint Helena = 5.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 299,035 individuals with a median age of 39.3 age the population dropped by -1.58% in Saint Helena, Contra Costa County, California population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,231.5 residents per square mile of area (475.49/km²). There are average 2.51 people per household in the 2,316 households with an average household income of $76,466 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is of the available work force and has dropped -6.52% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 17.96%. The number of physicians in Saint Helena per 100,000 population = 294.5.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Saint Helena = 35 inches and the annual snowfall = 0.3 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 68. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 263. 90 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 36.3 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 46, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Saint Helena, Contra Costa County, California which are owned by the occupant = 47.68%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 35 years with median home cost = $808,730 and home appreciation of -1.29%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $6.81 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $8,263 per student. There are 16.2 students for each teacher in the school. 4343.66% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 28.68% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 11.15% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).