Gridley is a city in Butte County, California, United States, 29 mi south of Chico, California, and 56 mi north of Sacramento, California. The population as of April 1, 2020, is 7,421. California State Route 99 runs through Gridley and Interstate 5 and California State Route 70 are both nearby.

History

Butte County was historically a bountiful area covered with oak trees, fields of manzanita brush, and marshes and lakes in the rainy season. The valley floor abounded with wild game, geese and ducks overhead, deer, antelope, tule elk, the coyote, and many smaller varieties of animal life. Fish swarmed in the rivers and creeks. Several tribal groups, including the Maidu people, were settled in the region when they were first encountered by Spanish and Mexican scouting expeditions in the early 18th century. In the 1850s George W. Gridley, a wool grower and grain farmer who at the time was one of the largest landowners in Butte County, settled a 960 acre home ranch west of the town site that was to be named after him. Gridley was established in 1870 when the Oregon and California Railroad was constructed north from Marysville. The railroad reached Chico on July 2, 1870. In response to a "The Place Where Crops Never Fail" advertising campaign by the California Irrigated Land Company, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began emigrating from the Rexburg, Idaho area to Gridley in November 1906. By February of the following year the Gridley Branch of the church was organized and more Latter-day Saints continued coming to Gridley from Idaho, Nevada, Utah and other states, effectively turning this small farming community into a Mormon enclave. By the end of 1908 there were some 500 LDS settlers in the Gridley area and their first chapel was constructed on the west corner of Sycamore and Vermont Streets in 1912 with a seating capacity of 1,000—the largest LDS meetinghouse west of Salt Lake City at that time. Following a fire in November 2018 in Paradise, California, 400 temporary modular housing units called the "Gridley Camp Fire Community" were erected at a city-owned industrial park in Gridley. In 2020, Gridley was the place where former NASA engineer and YouTube star Mark Rober achieved a world record of the World's Largest Elephant's Toothpaste Explosion with a height of 60 ft, before subsequently breaking the record again with a height of 250 ft in 2021.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.1 sqmi, all land.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Gridley has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csb on climate maps.

Demographics

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Gridley had a population of 6,584. The population density was 3,179.1 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Gridley was 4,283 (65.1%) White, 55 (0.8%) African American, 98 (1.5%) Native American, 249 (3.8%) Asian, 3 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 1,552 (23.6%) from other races, and 344 (5.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,000 persons (45.6%). The Census reported that 6,472 people (98.3% of the population) lived in households, 16 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 96 (1.5%) were institutionalized. There were 2,183 households, out of which 910 (41.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,087 (49.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 338 (15.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 134 (6.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 149 (6.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 8 (0.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 520 households (23.8%) were made up of individuals, and 297 (13.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96. There were 1,559 families (71.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.54. The population was spread out, with 1,892 people (28.7%) under the age of 18, 668 people (10.1%) aged 18 to 24, 1,681 people (25.5%) aged 25 to 44, 1,415 people (21.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 928 people (14.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males. There were 2,406 housing units at an average density of 1,161.7 /mi2, of which 2,183 were occupied, of which 1,262 (57.8%) were owner-occupied, and 921 (42.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.5%. 3,829 people (58.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,643 people (40.1%) lived in rental housing units.

Economy

Gridley is adjacent to the Sacramento metropolitan area, the fifth largest metropolitan area in California.

Tourism

Parks and recreation

Gridley has several trails and parks featuring playgrounds, picnic tables and benches. Boat Launch Park includes a new boat ramp and dock, restrooms, lighting, and a fish cleaning table. It is located 3 mi east of Gridley on East Gridley Road. The modern facility was largely funded by the California Division of Boating and Waterways.

Education

The Gridley Community is served by the Gridley Unified School District. Schools in the Gridley Unified School District include:

Higher education

Infrastructure

Healthcare

Orchard Hospital is a general acute care facility in Gridley with emergency care.

Highways

Gridley is located in the Central Valley, along California State Route 99, 56 mi north of Sacramento. It is close to larger metropolitan areas. California State Route 70 and Interstate 5 are both within 20 mi.

Public transport

B-Line Butte Regional Transit is Butte County's regional public transit system. Area residents use B-Line to travel locally in Gridley, Chico, Oroville, and Paradise, or to travel between communities throughout Butte County. Passenger rail service is planned to be initiated to Gridley under the North Valley Rail project.

Airport

Sacramento International Airport is a public airport 52 mi south of Gridley, in Sacramento County, California. Southwest Airlines currently accounts for half the airline passengers. The Airport served more than 10 million passengers in 2016. The Oroville Municipal Airport is located 11 mi to the northeast of Gridley on State Route 162 and west of State Route 70.

Notable people