Yountville was named after George C. Yount in 1867. Previously the town was named Sebastopol in 1855. However, a town in nearby Sonoma County had already laid claim to this name, so the town was renamed after George Yount's death.
Restaurants
Among the restaurants in Yountville is The French Laundry, owned by Chef Thomas Keller, with a three-star rating from the Michelin Guide, and a two-time winner of the title "best restaurant in the world" by "The Worlds 50 Best" restaurant rating organization. Keller also owns another restaurant in Yountville, Ad Hoc. Michelin one-star restaurants in Yountville for 2015 also include Bouchon, another Thomas Keller Restaurant. Two other Yountville restaurants have Michelin's "Bib Gourmand" rating: Philippe Jeanty's Bistro Jeanty and Redd Wood. Gourmet dining in Yountville dates to 1977, when Philippe Jeanty opened the restaurant at Domaine Chandon, owned by French champagne house Moët & Chandon. With more than one Michelin star per 1,000 residents, Yountville claims the most Michelin stars per capita of anywhere in North America.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all of it land. Yountville suffered a 5.2 magnitude earthquake on September 3, 2000.
Demographics
At the 2010 census Yountville had a population of 2,933. The population density was 1,915.3 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Yountville was 2,623 White, 38 African American, 30 Native American, 49 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 92 from other races, and 101 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 289 people. The census reported that 1,945 people lived in households, 60 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 928 were institutionalized. There were 1,050 households, 136 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 418 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 64 had a female householder with no husband present, 16 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 48 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 16 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 449 households were one person and 257 had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 1.85. There were 498 families ; the average family size was 2.53. The age distribution was 237 people under the age of 18, 75 people aged 18 to 24, 426 people aged 25 to 44, 767 people aged 45 to 64, and 1,428 people who were 65 or older. The median age was 64.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 136.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 139.2 males. There were 1,252 housing units at an average density of 817.6 per square mile, of the occupied units 688 were owner-occupied and 362 were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%. 1,266 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 679 people lived in rental housing units.
Government
The Town of Yountville has a council–managerform of government. The Town Council consists of Mayor John F. Dunbar, Vice Mayor Marita Dorenbecher, Council Member Marjorie "Margie" Mohler, Council Member Jeffrey Durham and Council Member Kerri Dorman. The Town Manager is Steven Rogers.
