Davis

Sister cities

• Muñoz
• Wuxi
• Sangju
• Qufu
• Uman

History

Davis sits on land that was historically inhabited by Indigenous people associated with the Clovis culture. The Patwin, a southern branch of Wintun people, eventually displaced existing Indigenous tribes. The Patwin were subsequently displaced by the American and Mexican government in the 1830s as part of the California genocide. Patwin burial grounds have been found across Davis, including on the site of the UC Davis Mondavi Center. Territory that eventually became Davis emerged from ranchos, Laguna de Santos Callé. Jerome C. Davis, a prominent farmer and one of the early claimants to land in Laguna de Santos Callé, lobbied to the United States Congress to retain the land that eventually became Davis. Davis became a depot on the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1868, when it was named Davisville after Jerome C. Davis. The post office at Davisville shortened the town name to "Davis" in 1907. The name stuck, and the city of Davis was incorporated on March 28, 1917. From its inception as a farming community, Davis is known primarily for its contributions to agricultural science and policy along with veterinary care and animal husbandry. Following the passage of the University Farm Bill in 1905 by the California State Legislature, Governor George Pardee selected Davis out of 50 other sites as the future home to the University of California's University Farm, officially opening to students in 1908. The farm, later renamed the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture in 1922, was upgraded to become the seventh UC general campus, the University of California, Davis, in 1959.

Geography

Davis is located in Yolo County, west of Sacramento, northeast of San Francisco, north of Los Angeles, at the intersection of Interstate 80 and State Route 113. Neighboring towns include Dixon, Winters, Woodland and West Sacramento. Davis lies in the Sacramento Valley, the northern portion of the Central Valley, in Northern California, at a mean elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.35%, is water. The Davis climate resembles that of nearby Sacramento and is typical of California's Central Valley Mediterranean climate region: warm and dry in the spring, summer and autumn, and cool and wet in the winter. It is classified as a Köppen Csa climate. Summer days are hot, ranging from , but the nights turn pleasantly cool, almost always dropping below . The Delta Breeze, a flow of cool marine air originating from the Pacific Ocean via San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, frequently provides relief in the evening. Winter temperatures generally reach between in the afternoon; nights average at about , but occasionally fall below freezing. Average temperatures range from in December and January to in July and August. Thick ground fog called tule fog settles into Davis during late fall and winter. This fog can be dense, with near zero visibility. As in other areas of Northern California, the tule fog is a leading cause of road accidents in the winter season. Mean rainfall per annum is about . The bulk of the rainfall occurs between about mid-November to mid-March, with typically no precipitation falling from mid-June to mid-September. Record temperatures range from a high of on July 17, 1925, to a low of on December 11, 1932.…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  29,901
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  26,297
• California/Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

  Aphelocoma californica (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  25,066
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,918
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  21,375
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  21,168
• Yellow-rumped Warbler

  Setophaga coronata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  20,225
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  19,869

Largest nearby schools

• Davis Senior High
  High · Davis · 1,801 students · 22.5:1 ratio
• Bridgeway Island Elementary
  Elementary · West Sacramento · 1,063 students · 24.2:1 ratio
• Da Vinci Charter Academy
  High · Davis · 611 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High
  Middle · Davis · 596 students · 19.2:1 ratio
• Pioneer Elementary
  Elementary · Davis · 582 students · 25.3:1 ratio
• Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Junior High
  Middle · Davis · 564 students · 20.9:1 ratio
• Birch Lane Elementary
  Elementary · Davis · 555 students · 24.1:1 ratio
• North Davis Elementary
  Elementary · Davis · 540 students · 25.7:1 ratio