Groveland, California

Groveland has always been an important stop on the highway to Yosemite but really grew in the early 1900s with the development of the Tuolumne River Hetch-Hetchy water project for the city of San Francisco. Groveland is adjacent to the Stanislaus National Forest and is known for the historic Iron Door Saloon.

Groveland was originally a gold rush town and then became a sleepy farming community until the San Francisco Hetch Hetchy water project made it their headquarters and built a railroad yard and hospital for the work crews (both now gone). From 1915 till 1935 Groveland was a boom town supporting seven hotels, 10,000 residents and much activity. When the work crews left the town again became a minor stop on the way to Yosemite until the Boise Cascade company built the Pine Mountain Lake community with a first class golf course, an airport and lake and staked out 5000 lots. This development has since grown from a summer home area to a retirement community to a thriving neighborhood with year-round families, boosting the once sleepy Groveland to a travel and vacation destination in its own right.

Groveland is the main town on the Highway 120 route to Yosemite National Park, and boasts numerous lodging and restaurant businesses.

Tioga High School and Tenaya Elementary School are located in Groveland.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 9.6 square miles (24.8 km²), 99.94% of it land and 0.06% of it water.

The 2010 United States Census[5] reported that Groveland had a population of 601. The population density was 62.8 people per square mile (24.3/km²). The racial makeup of Groveland was 542 (90.2%) White, 2 (0.3%) African American, 9 (1.5%) Native American, 9 (1.5%) Asian, 2 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 17 (2.8%) from other races, and 20 (3.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 49 persons (8.2%).

The Census reported that 601 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 277 households, out of which 57 (20.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 119 (43.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 32 (11.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 15 (5.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 21 (7.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 2 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 90 households (32.5%) were made up of individuals, and 41 (14.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17. There were 166 families (59.9% of all households); the average family size was 2.64.

The population was spread out, with 92 people (15.3%) under the age of 18, 42 people (7.0%) aged 18 to 24, 114 people (19.0%) aged 25 to 44, 239 people (39.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 114 people (19.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.1 males.

There were 353 housing units at an average density of 36.9 per square mile (14.2/km²), of which 182 (65.7%) were owner-occupied, and 95 (34.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 10.4%. 373 people (62.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 228 people (37.9%) lived in rental housing units.

Camp Mather of the City of San Francisco, San Jose Family Camp of the City of San Jose, Berkeley Tuolumne Family Camp of the City of Berkeley, and Camp Tawonga, a Jewish summer camp, are all located east of Groveland off Hwy 120 within the Stanislaus National Forest.[6]