City, Napa County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Code: 94515
Legend has it town got its name when founding father Sam Brannan stood up at a party to introduce Calistoga as the “Saratoga of California.” www.mccormacks.com
Calistoga has hot springs and mud baths, much like the resort town of Saratoga in New York. Sam, having hoisted a few, instead popped out with “Calistoga of Sarafornia.” Name stuck. Sounds like it was a great party.
Resort city, pretty, increased its population by about 600 people in 1980s and 725 in the 1990s. Median age is 38. Children and teens under 18 make up 23 percent of town. The state in 2006 estimated the population at 5,302. www.mccormacks.com
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Some new housing but most of Calistoga has been around for a while, pre-World War II, the 1950s and 1960s. Well-kept. Streets clean. Lined with trees. Ornamental street lights. A few Victorians. Away from the main drag, Lincoln Avenue, Calistoga has a retiring air and folks age 55 and older make up about 29 percent of population (2000 census) and supposedly are active in the town's politics. Mobile homes account for about 25 percent of the housing stock.
North of the downtown, where most of the housing is located, people have been steadily sprucing up the homes. www.mccormacks.com
Calistoga has a little history, first-class restaurants and shops and, by California standards, charm. It's the kind of town that attracts people who want to plant roses and gardens and wield paint brushes and hammer nails. At the city limits, large, grand homes have been built among small wineries and this has further inspired those who feel destined to restore and improve.
Crime
Zero homicides in between 1994 and 2004. Calistoga has own police department. New police station. See Crime. www.mccormacks.com
Schools
Two schools, an elementary and junior-senior high, total enrollment about 880. Scores range from 30th to 60th percentile and maybe influenced by the low number of test takers. See Schools.
The state in 2007 tallied 2,329 residential units: 1,077 single homes, 97 single attached, 551 apartments, 604 mobile homes. These numbers are not likely to change a great deal in the near future. Calistoga needs to overhaul its water and sewer systems to grow. In the 1990s, according the census, the town built about 500 housing units but the state, in estimates, puts the number lower. www.mccormacks.com
Calistoga is the northernmost town in the county, a long way from the East Bay and San Francisco. Back roads run over to Highway 12 and Highway 101. Highway 128 leads to an Indian casino. See Commute.
Jobs in restaurants, inns, hotels, spas, stores, country club. Wineries, other golf courses nearby. Many people live elsewhere and work in Calistoga. Plenty of open country outside city limits. Library, community center, bookstores, Peets Coffee. Old bank converted into shoe store. Bike rentals. Petrified forest, Mount St. Helena state park nearby. Wine train. Annual horse show. Napa River becomes a true river during heavy rains but for most of the year it purrs along as a creek. Chamber of commerce: (707) 942-6333. www.mccormacks.com
City web site: www.ci.calistoga.ca.us
