South of the town is the Sierra Madre mountain range, most of which is included in the Los Padres National Forest. Considerable oil and gas development has taken place at the South Cuyama Oil Field in the foothills of the Sierra Madre, just south of Cuyama and adjacent New Cuyama. In July 2005, 52,000 acres (210 km2) in Los Padres National Forest, mostly in the region immediately south of Cuyama, was opened up to further development by the National Forest Service.
History
Rancho Cuyama, which consisted of 22,200 acres, was granted to Jose Maria Rojo in 1843. In 1943, Richfield Oil Company started oil exploration in the area, followed by the Norris Oil Company five years later. In 1952, Atlantic Richfield established New Cuyama four miles west of Cuyama to house its employees.[7]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 0.5 square miles (1.2 km2), 99.04% of it land, and 0.96% of it water.
The Census reported that 57 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 20 households, out of which 7 (35.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 9 (45.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1 (5.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2 (10.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2 (10.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0 (0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 6 households (30.0%) were made up of individuals, and 2 (10.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85. There were 12 families (60.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.75.
The population was spread out, with 14 people (24.6%) under the age of 18, 8 people (14.0%) aged 18 to 24, 13 people (22.8%) aged 25 to 44, 17 people (29.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 5 people (8.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 137.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 152.9 males.
There were 30 housing units at an average density of 65.5 per square mile (25.3/km2), of which 10 (50.0%) were owner-occupied, and 10 (50.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%; the rental vacancy rate was 23.1%. 27 people (47.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 30 people (52.6%) lived in rental housing units.
^McCall, Lynne & Rosalind, Perry, red. (1991): The Chumash People: Materials for Teachers and Students. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. San Luis Obispo, CA: EZ Nature Books. ISBN0-945092-23-7. Page 29.
^McCall, Lynne; Perry, Rosalind (2002). California’s Chumash Indians : a project of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Education Center (Revised ed.). San Luis Obispo, Calif: EZ Nature Books. ISBN0936784156.
^David W. Kean, Wide Places in the California Roads: The encyclopedia of California's small towns and the roads that lead to them (Volume 1 of 4: Southern California Counties), p. 51,52
