Livingston is a city in Merced County, California. According to the 2000 census, the city population was 10,473. (As discussed below, this may be an underestimate.) Merced County is a county located in Californias Central Valley, north of Fresno and southeast of San Jose. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Location

Livingston is located at 37°23′4″N, 120°43′18″W (37.384530, -120.721582)^GR1. It lies slightly uphill from where the Southern Pacific Railroad crosses the Merced River. Highway 99 follows the Southern Pacific through the city. Image File history File links Adapted from Wikipedias CA county maps by Bumm13. ... The Southern Pacific Railroad (AAR reporting marks SP) was an American railroad. ... The Merced River is in California. ... JUNCTION POSTMILE I-5 KER 0. ...

Agriculture

Livingston lies in the fertile San Joaquin Valley. Like the rest of the valley, it has long, dry summers with abundant irrigation water. The winters are mild, alternating between fog, rain, and sun, with occasional frost. This makes for long growing seasons, with a low risk of mold, storms, drought or other bad weather interfering with crops. Most of the valley has clay-based soils. Livingston is unusual in that the Merced River has deposited large amounts of sand. The sand is presumably the ground-up remnants of Half Dome, El Capitan, and Yosemite Valley. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... San Joaquin soil profile San Joaquin is an officially designated state insignia, the State Soil of California. ... Half Dome is a granite dome at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley, possibly the Valleys most familiar sight. ... El Capitan is a 3,000-foot (1000m) vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. ... Yosemite Valley with Half Dome in the distance. ...

The main crops of the Livingston area are:

• Chickens and turkeys -- The Foster Farms poultry company's headquarters and main processing plant are in Livingston. The chicken ranches import most of their feed from other parts of the United States. The tallest building in the area is Foster Farms' grain elevator.
• Dairy -- The Joseph Gallo dairy has the single largest herd in the United States. Neighboring towns (especially Hilmar) have many more cattle.
• Grapes -- Ernest and Julio Gallo, the Arakelian family, and many family farmers grow grapes for wine, the table, and raisin-making. Ernest and Julio Gallo have a major grape pressing operation near Livingston.
• Almonds
• Sweet Potatoes -- 90% of the sweet potatoes grown west of the Rockies are grown and packed in Livingston, Delhi, and Atwater. The sweet potatoes benefit from the sandy soil.
• Alfalfa, corn, and soybeans are grown to support the dairies.
• Melons -- watermelons, honeydew melons, et cetera.
• Peaches -- most of the peach orchards have been replaced by almonds.

A few small farms grow: The Foster Farms poultry company was founded in 1939 by Max and Verda Foster in Modesto, California. ... Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or more properly, an animal husbandry enterprise, raising female cattle, goats, or certain other lactating livestock for long-term production of milk, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy for processing and eventual retail sale. ... Joseph Joe Edward Gallo, Jr. ... Species Vitis acerifolia Vitis aestivalis Vitis amurensis Vitis arizonica Vitis x bourquina Vitis californica Vitis x champinii Vitis cinerea Vitis x doaniana Vitis girdiana Vitis labrusca Vitis x labruscana Vitis monticola Vitis mustangensis Vitis x novae-angliae Vitis palmata Vitis riparia Vitis rotundifolia Vitis rupestris Vitis shuttleworthii Vitis tiliifolia Vitis... The E & J Gallo Winery was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo (March 18, 1909) and Julio Gallo (March 21, 1910 – May 2, 1993 as E. & J. Gallo Winery. ... A glass of red wine This article is about the alcoholic beverage. ... Missing image Image:Ripe grapes thumbnail. ... Raisins Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. ... This article refers to the plant. ... Binomial name Ipomoea batatas Linnaeus The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a crop plant whose large, starchy, sweet tasting tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. ... Binomial name Medicago sativa L. Subspecies subsp. ... Peaches may refer to: Peaches, a type of fruit Peaches, an Electroclash musician Peaches, a song by The Stranglers Peaches, a character in the motion picture Ken Park Peaches, a song by The Presidents of the United States of America Peaches, a musical artist. ...

• Grain -- barley, wheat, et cetera.
• Onions
• Berries -- strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, et cetera.
• Popcorn

City area

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.0 km² (3.5 mi²), all land. Much of this area is farmland that has been annexed either preemptively, or in anticipation of future growth. The actual city is much smaller. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title ) is a part of the United States Department of Commerce. ... A square metre (US spelling: square meter) is by definition the area enclosed by a square with sides each 1 metre long. ... A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (≈1,609 m) in length. ...

Schools

• Merced Union High School District
  • Livingston High School
• Livingston Union School District elementary schools:
  • Livingston Middle School
  • Campus Park School
  • Selma Herndon School
  • Yamato Colony School
  • Shelby School
• Private schools
  • St. Jude's Catholic Church used to have a K-8 grade school.
  • Longview Mennonite School (outside the city limits)

Many students at Livingston High School attended grade school in Delhi, Ballico, and Cressey. Livingston High School in Livingston, Ca. ... For other uses, see Saint Jude (disambiguation). ...

Features:

• Most children are within walking distance of school.
• The elementary schools' bus drivers are also their janitors.
• Half of the kindergarten classes are bilingual (typically Spanish/English, Punjabi/English, or Portuguese/Spanish/English)
• About one-fifth of fourth-grade classes are bilingual (typically Spanish/English or Punjabi/English).
• Livingston High School's foreign language department offers classes in Spanish, French, and Punjabi.

Newspapers

• The Livingston Chronicle is published weekly, by the company that publishes the Merced Sun-Star. The Chronicle publishes local happenings, especially Livingston High School academic and athletic events.
• The Merced Sun-Star
• The Modesto Bee
• The San Francisco Chronicle
• Livingston California News is an online-only newspaper. Its editor was the managing editor of the Livingston Chronicle for 12 years.

The Bee purchased the Sun-Star and Livingston Chronicle in December, 2003. The Merced Sun-Star is a daily broadsheet newspaper printed in Merced, California. ... The Modesto Bee is a Californian newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company, a leading american newspaper corporation. ... Todays San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Churches

Livingston has many churches, including:

• St. Jude's Roman Catholic Church
• An Apostolic Assembly
• An Assemblies of God Neighborhood Church
• Emmanuel Baptist Church
• A Church of Christ
• Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
• Livingston United Methodist Church (outside the city limits)
• A Mennonite Church (outside the city limits)
• Two Sikh Gurdwaras (one each of two different denominations)

Livingston is one of the few places in the United States where a mounted sheriff's deputy rides at the head of religious parades because of the religious symbolism. For other uses, see Saint Jude (disambiguation). ... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based cooperative ministry agency serving Baptist churches around the world. ... Alternate meanings: see Church of Christ (disambiguation). ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... This article is about the current denomination africa. ... The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after and influenced by the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons (1496-1561). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

After a lengthy court battle (which went to the United States Supreme Court), Sikh children as young as eight years old won the right to bring knives (kirpans) to school, if certain safety precautions are followed. The final settlement was at least as restrictive as the provisions of the state law that the school district sought to enforce. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States...

Labor and Industry

• Foster Farms (poultry company)
• Joseph Gallo Farms
• E & J Gallo Winery
• League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley
• United Farm Workers (UFW)
• California Teachers Association
• Merced Union High School District Teachers Association
• California School Employees Association

The Foster Farms poultry company was founded in 1939 by Max and Verda Foster in Modesto, California. ... Joseph Joe Edward Gallo, Jr. ... The E & J Gallo Winery was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo (March 18, 1909) and Julio Gallo (March 21, 1910 – May 2, 1993 as E. & J. Gallo Winery. ... The League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley is a union in California. ... The United Farm Workers of America (UFW) is a labor union that evolved from unions founded in 1962 by César Chávez, Philip Vera Cruz, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong. ... The California Teachers Association (CTA), initially established in 1863 as the California Educational Society, is by far the largest teachers union in the state of California. ... The California School Employees Association (CSEA) is the largest classified school employees labor union in the United States. ...

Demographics

Heritage

The residents of Livingston are descended from people of many nations:

• Mexicans from Michoacán, the Yucatán, Chihuahua, Veracruz, and other estados.
• Other Central Americans from Guatemala, El Salvador, and other countries.
• People from Oklahoma and other parts of the United States of America.
• Portuguese from the Azores, Angola, and Brazil
• Sikhs and Muslims from India and Pakistan
• Japanese, mostly from Wakayama [1]
• Hmong from Laos
• Mennonites from Germany and Russia
• Armenians
• Vietnamese from South Vietnam
• Filipinos
• Chinese

There are very few blacks and American Indians in Livingston. Michoacán de Ocampo (From michamacuan, Nahuatl for the place of the fishermen) is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. ... The Yucatán peninsula as seen from space The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. ... For other uses, see Chihuahua (disambiguation). ... The state of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave is one of the 31 states that compose Mexico (does not include the Mexican Federal District). ... Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Area  Ranked 20th  - Total 69,960 sq mi (181,196 km²)  - Width 230 miles (370 km)  - Length 298 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... Motto Antes morrer livres que em paz sujeitos Rather die free than in peace subjugated Anthem A Portuguesa (national) Hino dos Açores (local) Capital Ponta Delgada1 Angra do Heroísmo2 Horta3 Largest city Ponta Delgada Official languages Portuguese Government Autonomous region  -  President Carlos César Establishment  -  Settled 1439   -  Autonomy... Wakayama Prefecture ) is part of the Kii Peninsula in the Kinki region on HonshÅ« island, Japan. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Native Americans are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ...

The immigration still continues. Most of the recent immigrants are from Mexico, Central America, and the Punjab. For other uses, see Central America (disambiguation). ... Punjab, 1903 Punjab Province, 1909 Punjab (Persian: ‎, meaning Land of the five Rivers) (c. ...

Census problems

Because so many residents are immigrants, it is likely that Census figures underestimate the actual population. (The number of automobiles in the town is consistent with a higher population than the official figure.)

According to the census figures, Livingston has one of the highest percentages of married couples with children in California. (This may be an artifact of the population underestimate.) “Matrimony” redirects here. ...

Because the city is much smaller than its city limits, the population density is much higher than the value calculated by the Census Bureau.

Census figures

According to the census of 2000, there were 10,473 people, 2,390 households, and 2,143 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,165.3/km² (3,019.8/mi²). There were 2,449 housing units at an average density of 272.5/km² (706.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 36.52% White, 0.74% African American, 0.93% Native American, 14.45% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 41.54% from other races, and 5.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 71.81% of the population. 1870 US Census for New York City A census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population (not necessarily a human population). ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... It has been suggested that Ethnicity (United States Census) be merged into this article or section. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ...

There were 2,390 households out of which 60.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.2% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 10.3% were non-families. 8.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.37 and the average family size was 4.57. “Matrimony” redirects here. ...

In the city the population was spread out with 37.7% under the age of 18, 12.5% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females there were 101.0 males. For every 100 women age 18 and over, there are 99.3 men.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,500, and the median income for a family was $33,939. Males had a median income of $22,249 versus $19,693 for females. The per capita income for the city was $9,231. About 20.8% of families and 25.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.7% of those under age 18 and 20.9% of those age 65 or over. The per capita income for a group of people may be defined as their total personal income, divided by the total population. ... Map of countries showing percentage of population who have an income below the national poverty line The poverty line is the level of income below which one cannot afford to purchase all the resources one requires to live. ...

Sister city

• Wakami, Akita Prefecture, Japan

Wakami (若美町; -machi) is a town located in Minamiakita District, Akita, Japan. ... Akita Prefecture ) is located in the Tōhoku Region of northern Japan. ...

See also

• list of cities in California
• Merced River
• Merced County, California
• California
• League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley

There are 478 incorporated cities in California, 22 of which are styled Town of (Name) instead of City of (Name). ... The Merced River is in California. ... Merced County is a county located in Californias Central Valley, north of Fresno and southeast of San Jose. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... The League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley is a union in California. ...

References

• Cheema v. Thompson is the case involving kirpans in elementary schools.
• National Park Service: A History of Japanese Americans in California: Yamato Colony
• Merced Sun-Star article about Livingston's sister-city relationship with Wakami.
• Livingston Union School District
• Merced Union High School District. Regular Board Meeting Minutes for the January 25, 2006 board meeting, item 97.
• Livingston California News article About the editor.

External links

History of Livingston on the City's official website (http://www.livingstoncity.com)

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 37.38453° -120.721582°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA