Blythe, California

Riverside County

06-07218

Blythe [ blaɪθ ] is an American city in Riverside County in the U.S. state of California. It has 21,000 inhabitants (as of 2010). The city is located on the border with Arizona. The metropolitan area has a size of 69.9 km ².

The place is situated on the Colorado River and is part of the Palo Verde Valley, an agricultural region in the Colorado Desert. It is named after Thomas Blythe from San Francisco, who acquired the rights to the waters of the Colorado River in the region in 1877. The city was awarded on July 21, 1916 rank of a City.

Geography

Politically is Blythe in eastern Riverside counties in California in the United States, the natural area can be the place the Colorado Desert, part of the Sonoran Desert, assign. The city is located remote from the population centers of the county and is within the county the only settlement east of the Coachella Valley is, according to Blythe borders on no other cities. The eastern city border is the Colorado River, which also acts as the border between California and Arizona here. In the town itself the Interstate 10 and U.S. Highway 95 meet, also located just east of the center on the Interstate the end of California State Route 78

In the north of Blythe in the south of the Census -designated place, Ripley, in the West Desert Center and in the east of Ehrenberg, Arizona are the unincorporated settlements Lost Lake and Vidal. Larger towns of the area are in Arizona Yuma ( 135 km) and Phoenix (240 miles). In California, the cities of Indio are (155 km), Riverside ( 275 km) and San Bernardino (California ) (275 km) in radius.

Blythe has 20,817 inhabitants (as of 2010 census ). The city covers an area of ​​69.855 km ², of which ² of land area makes up the largest part with 67,828 km. The population density is therefore 306.9 people per square kilometer. The city center is located at an altitude of 83 meters.

Despite California's vulnerability to earthquakes, there has been no earthquake in the center of today's Blythe in the last 500,000 years, according to geologists.

Climate

As a desert city, the climate is arid with very hot summers and mild winters. The average annual maximum temperature is 31.3 ° C, the lowest temperature of 12.8 ° C. In the summer it is usually warm above 40 ° C. The average annual rainfall is just below 100 mm. The highest ever measured in Blythe temperature was exactly 50 ° C and was measured both on 7 July 1920 as well as on 24 June 1929. The coldest was January 6, 1913 -15 ° C.

History

In 1882, the English-born Thomas Blythe reached in search of land for real estate the area. The previously active in San Francisco merchants had acquired 1877 water rights on the nearby Colorado River on July 17, and was also involved in farms and mines. After his death in 1883 the land was no longer being developed.

Frank Murphy and Ed Williams from the neighboring state of Arizona came in 1904 in the region and were convinced of their suitability for cattle ranching and agriculture. Using WA Hobson, they founded the " Palo Verde Land and Water Company." WF Holt, who was involved in the developments in the nearby Imperial Valley, was appointed Managing Director of the company and stood in front of this until 1912.

The California Southern Railroad built in 1916 a railway line from the now-defunct Rice desert town in San Bernardino County to Blythe. Rice was therefore time, the name Blythe Junction. From 1921 to 1991, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway managed the route.

The city in 1922 was plagued by extensive flooding, reason for this was the overflow of the Colorado River. After the disaster Blythe could hardly grow in the following decades. The built for the prevention Hoover Dam and Parker Dam prevented further flooding in the urban area.

Policy

Blythe is part of the 28th district in the Senate of California, which is currently represented by Democrat Ted Lieu W.. In the California State Assembly, the place is assigned to the 56th District and is thus represented by Democrat V. Manuel Pérez. At the federal level belongs to Blythe California's 36th congressional district, which a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R 1 and is represented by Democrat Raul Ruiz.

Economy

Interstate 10 runs through Blythe. The city has an airport ( IATA code: BLH, ICAO code: KBLH ).

Near the town is currently the world's largest solar thermal power plant built with a capacity of one gigawatt (see also: Solar power plant Blythe ). The first two blocks with a total of nearly 500 megawatts of power to go the end of 2013 to the network. At about six billion -dollar project is next to the Chevron Corporation, also involved the German Solar Millennium.

The logistics company Con-way maintains an office in Blythe. Especially at night here called cross dockings are performed.

Tourism

Tourism is an important element of the local economy. Blythe is often used as a stopover when traveling between the Greater Los Angeles and Phoenix, as it is located almost centrally between the two metropolitan regions. The winter months attract always many visitors from the colder northern states here.

Every third weekend in January, the city will host the Blythe Bluegrass Festival. Each year, over 13,000 visitors attended the three-day music festival.

The pigeon shooting is very popular, the start of the hunting season is always on 1 September.