[2] Janesville is located on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.

The community consists of an elementary school, a park, four churches, two gas stations, a pizza parlor, a coffee shop, a veterinary hospital, a hardware store, a post office, and a few other businesses.

Fort Janesville In 1860, after the First Battle of Pyramid Lake, part of the Paiute War, and the Ormsby Massacre, settlers built a loopholed stockade for protection from an Indian attack that never materialized.

The fort, which had a bastion, or block house, in its southwest corner, was located less than a mile from the town of Janesville.

[3] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 13.2 square miles (34.2 km2), of which over 99% is land.

There were 615 housing units at an average density of 46.6 per square mile (18.0/km2), of which 460 (86.0%) were owner-occupied, and 75 (14.0%) were occupied by renters.

[10] Federally, Janesville is in California's 1st congressional district, represented by Republican Doug LaMalfa.