Mettler, or Mettler Station, is a heavily Hispanic, low-income unincorporated area in Kern County, California. The population was 157 at the 2000 census. It is the place where motion picture actor James Dean received a traffic ticket on the last day of his life.
[edit] Geography
Mettler, which is 25 road miles south of Bakersfield,[1] is at 35°03′50″N 118°58′12″W / 35.06389°N 118.97°W / 35.06389; -118.97.[2]>. The locality has an area of 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) and an elevation of 541 feet (165 m).[1]
[edit] History
[edit] Founding
According to the publication California's Geographic Names, Mettler was founded in 1941,[2] but an obituary of Clifford Alvin Mettler in the Bakersfield Californian reported that the settlement was founded by him, his father, William H. Mettler, and his brother (unnamed) in the "late 1940's" in the Wheeler Ridge area, which settlement "later became known as Mettler Station."[3]
[edit] James Dean
On September 30, 1955, motion picture actor James Dean was driving north on California State Highway 99 when he was stopped by California Highway Patrol officer O.V. Hunter and given a ticket for speeding. The officer wrote Mettler Station as the location of the infraction. [4]
[edit] Population
As of the census[5] of 2000, 157 people lived in 31 households (37 housing units). The average household size was about five people. Mettler's population was about six years younger than California at large.
| 2000 figures | Mettler | California | United States |
| Median age | 27 | 33.3 | 35.3 |
| White | 47.1% | 59.5% | 75.1% |
| African-American | None | 6.7% | 12.3% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 84.7% | 32.4% | 12.5% |
| Family income | $28,750 | $53,025 | $50,046 |
| Poverty families | 5.9% | 10.6% | 9.2% |
| Med. home value | $71,500 | $211,500 | $119,600 |
| High school diploma | 42.1% | 76.8% | 80.4% |
| College degree | 7.0% | 28.6% | 24.4% |
[edit] References
[edit] Newspaper
