North Fork, California


North Fork is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California. It is located east of Raymond, south east of Bass Lake and from Oakhurst.
North Fork is also home of the Sierra Mono Museum and the starting point of the Sierra Scenic Byway. The town boasts one grocery store, three restaurants and two gas stations.
North Fork is the birthplace of Jeff King, four-time champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
The Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California maintains their tribal headquarters in North Fork. The Sierra Mono Museum is also located here.
North Fork is also the home of the US Forest Service Crane Valley Hotshots, an elite crew of wildland firefighters.

Geography

North Fork is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada at an elevation of 2638 feet. According to the the population of the 93643 zip code area was 3,360 with a median age of 44.8 years. The community is inside area code 559. It is part of the Madera-Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The geographic center or midpoint of the state of California is located between North Fork and Italian Bar. The point is about driving distance from the United States Forest Service office in North Fork. The location is marked by a sign and a survey marker. NAD83 coordinates for the exact center of California are The Fresno County line is less than one mile,, from the site's survey marker. The site is also marked on the United States Forest Service road map of Sierra National Forest, which can be purchased at the North Fork USFS office. The actual site has wooden stairs leading up the hillside about 50 feet from the road. The marker is not wheelchair accessible.

Climate

North Fork has a Mediterranean climate with cool, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. Its average annual precipitation is. Its hardiness zone is 7b.

History

The town's original inhabitants were members of the Mono tribe, who still comprise a significant portion of the population. The town was originally named Brown's after its first white settler, Milton Brown. The name North Fork came from the North Fork Lumber Company. The North Fork post office opened in 1888.
In the 1950s, it became a lumber town. North Fork's economy was based in the timber industry until the local lumber mill closed in 1996.