The unincorporated community of Panoche is located along Panoche Road in the southern, rural part of San Benito County, California, United States. The community is about 2.7 driving miles east of County Route J1. The county seat, Hollister, is roughly 35 miles (56 km) straight-line distance. The Fresno County line is about 3.7 miles (6.0 km) distant to the northeast. The area encompassed by San Benito County continues just over 20 miles (32 km) farther south where the south extent meets Fresno and Monterey counties. ^[1]

The US Geological Survey feature ID is 252760 and the NAD27 latitude and longitude are listed as 36°35′49″N 120°50′01″W / 36.596944°N 120.833611°W / 36.596944; -120.833611Coordinates: 36°35′49″N 120°50′01″W / 36.596944°N 120.833611°W / 36.596944; -120.833611. Elevation is shown as 1,220 feet (372 m) AMSL.^[2]

The Panoche Inn is one of few area landmarks. The bar and restaurant is busy with motorcycle enthusiasts on weekends in sunny weather. Some customers camp at Mercey Hot Springs or ride off-road vehicles at a nearby Bureau of Land Management tract. On the drive from Interstate 5, motorists will pass Little Panoche Reservoir: about 12.6 straight-line miles distant at 7.6 degrees off true north.

There is only one place in the entire world named Panoche, making it unique among the world's place names. It is thought that the name Panoche is derived from the local Indian word for a species of cane that once grew in the valley from which the Indians extracted panoche, a kind of sugar. It is believed that this is the origin for the name panocha, a popular Mexican and Filipino sugar (though processed somewhat differently from each other), and a pudding eaten during Lent in New Mexico and Southern Colorado. ^[3]

The ZIP Code is 95043. The community is inside area code 831.

Contents 1 Politics 2 Nearby features 3 Notes 4 External links

[edit] Politics

In the state legislature Panoche is located in the 12th Senate District, represented by Republican Jeff Denham, and in the 28th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Anna M. Caballero. Federally, Panoche is located in California's 17th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +17^[4] and is represented by Democrat Sam Farr.

[edit] Nearby features

• Mercey Hot Springs, California
• New Idria, California

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Panoche, California, 7.5-minute quadrangle, US Geological Survey, (1969).
2. ^ National Geographic Names Database, US Geological Survey, March, 1998.
3. ^ Three Rocks Report, Three Rocks Research, April 2006.
4. ^ "Will Gerrymandered Districts Stem the Wave of Voter Unrest?". Campaign Legal Center Blog. http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-85.html. Retrieved 2007-10-20. 

[edit] External links

• BLM Panoche and Tumey Hills areas.
• Panoche Inn
• Three Rocks Research, Three Rocks Report, April 2006 Newsletter

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of San Benito County, California County seat: Hollister Cities Hollister | San Juan Bautista CDPs Aromas† | Ridgemark Unincorporated communities New Idria | Paicines | Panoche | Tres Pinos Footnotes †This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county