History

The original townsite was surveyed and laid out in 1859 by Theodore Judah along the proposed line of the California Central Railroad. The name "Lincoln" was conferred in honor of Charles Lincoln Wilson, one of the organizers and directors of the California Central Railroad. The CCRR was planned as a rail link between the cities of Marysville and Sacramento via a connection to the Sacramento Valley Railroad in Folsom. Grading from Folsom to Marysville commenced in 1858 and was completed to Marysville by 1860. Track laying began that same year and the rails reached the site of Lincoln in early 1861. At this point, due to a lack of funds, further construction on the California Central was temporarily halted and Lincoln experienced a small-scale boom as the northern terminus of this new road. Within a few years, however, more investors were found and the line was extended to Wheatland, in Yuba County, bringing an end to this early stage of Lincoln's development.

When most of its population and business moved on with the railroad, the town settled into a lull until the early 1870s, when rich clay deposits of the Ione Formation were discovered nearby. This led to the establishment of Gladding, McBean & Co., the pottery for which Lincoln is famous, ushering in a new era of prosperity and growth.

Lincoln was once home to a significant Chinese American community, but it violently drove all its Chinese American residents out of town in March 1886.

Lincoln remained a sleepy town until the mid-1990s, when the suburbs of Sacramento started expanding out past nearby Roseville.  The city is now experiencing a new period of growth. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,819, for a growth rate of 282.1% since 2000, making Lincoln the fastest growing city in the United States over the last decade.

In June 2004, Lincoln gained additional notoriety when it opened the first casino in the greater Sacramento Metropolitan Area, Thunder Valley Casino Resort.

Demographics

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Lincoln had a population of 42,819. The population density was 2,127.1 people per square mile (821.3/km²). The racial makeup of Lincoln was 34,087 (79.6%) White, 629 (1.5%) African American, 399 (0.9%) Native American, 2,663 (6.2%) Asian, 115 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 3,125 (7.3%) from other races, and 1,801 (4.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7,597 persons (17.7%).

The Census reported that 42,704 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 30 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 85 (0.2%) were institutionalized.

There were 16,479 households, out of which 5,190 (31.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 10,365 (62.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,202 (7.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 586 (3.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 775 (4.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 110 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,518 households (21.3%) were made up of individuals and 2,128 (12.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59. There were 12,153 families (73.7% of all households); the average family size was 3.01.