Formed March 16, 1864 (46th county)
Alpine County (1,201), Markleeville* (191)
The small structure to the stone 1928 courthouse fits well into this mountain community. Markleeville became the county seat in 1875 from Silver Mountain City. The county was formed on March 16, 1864 from parts of Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras, Mono, and Tuolumne counties as the 46th county. The courthouse sits on between Montgomery and Laramie streets on California State Highway 89 as it passes through the town. Frederick J. DeLongchamps is the designer of this Romanesque style courthouse. An Administration Center was added in 1977. Alpine is a geographical name for the county’s location in the mountains. The county seat was named for settler Jacob J. Marklee.
Alpine County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, controller, and treasurer (executive). It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.) Two Superior Court Judges, clerk, and counsel serve Alpine County (judicial.) The county is situated in northern California, on the border with Nevada, and south of Lake Tahoe. It is in the middle of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Sacramento, California is west and Reno, Nevada is north. The county center is 27.7 miles Southwest of Markleeville nearer Deer Valley. The county is surrounded clockwise by Nevada and Mono, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, and El Dorado counties. The county has the shape of a bag of marbles with the top bending toward the northeast. The Stanislaus River forms the southern border of the county. Markleeville is slightly north of center in the county. Markleeville is the county seat and the largest populated area. It is 15.9% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced MARK-LEE-VIL.
The area of the county is 739 square miles. It is 49 out of 58 in the state. It ranks 58 out of 58 in population in the state. It has a density of 1.6 persons per square mile making it 58 out of 58 in the state. Alpine County has 0.0% of its population in its incorporated areas since it does not have any. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.
Markleeville (unincorporated)
