Calaveras County, officially the County of Calaveras, is a county in both the Gold Country and High Sierra regions of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,292. The county seat is San Andreas. Angels Camp is the county's only incorporated city. Calaveras is Spanish for "skulls"; the county was reportedly named for the remains of Native Americans discovered by the Spanish explorer Captain Gabriel Moraga.
Mokelumne Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 646 at the 2010 census, down from 774 at the 2000 census. It is commonly referred to as "Moke Hill" by locals. The town takes its name from the neighboring Mokelumne River, which in turn is Miwok for the "people of Mokel," the likely name of a Native American village in the area.
San Andreas is an unincorporated census-designated place and the county seat of Calaveras County, California. The population was 2,783 at the 2010 census, up from 2,615 at the 2000 census. Like most towns in the region, it was founded during the California Gold Rush. The town is located on State Route 49 and is registered as California Historical Landmark #252.
Valley Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Valley Springs is registered as a California Historical Landmark, number 251.
The Gold Country is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines that attracted waves of immigrants, known as the 49ers, during the 1849 California Gold Rush.
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California, is a state protected historical park in San Diego. It commemorates the early days of the City of San Diego and includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. The park was established in 1968. In 2005 and 2006, California State Parks listed Old Town San Diego as the most visited state park in California.
State Route 49 is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush and it is known as the Golden Chain Highway. The highway's creation was lobbied by the Mother Lode Highway Association, a group of locals and historians seeking a single highway to connect many relevant locations along the Gold Rush to honor the 49ers. One of the bridges along SR 49 is named for the leader of the association, Archie Stevenot.
The Mokelumne River is a 95-mile (153 km)-long river in northern California in the United States. The river flows west from a rugged portion of the central Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley and ultimately the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, where it empties into the San Joaquin River-Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel. Together with its main tributary, the Cosumnes River, the Mokelumne drains 2,143 square miles (5,550 km2) in parts of five California counties. Measured to its farthest source at the head of the North Fork, the river stretches for 157 miles (253 km).
The Hotel Léger, in Mokelumne Hill, California is one of the oldest hotels still operating in California. The hotel and courthouse building are registered as California Historical Landmark #663, and located in present-day Calaveras County, California.
Agua Fria is an unincorporated community in Mariposa County, California. It is located 5.25 miles (8.4 km) northeast of Catheys Valley, at an elevation of 2001 feet. Agua Fria is the former county seat of Mariposa County located approximately three miles west of Mariposa, California.
Holcomb Valley, located in the San Bernardino Mountains about five miles north of Big Bear Lake, was the site of the most gold mines in Southern California. It was named after William F. Holcomb, who found gold there in 1860. That year started the largest gold rush in the Southern California region. The boomtown of Belleville grew up near there and flourished for about ten years before being abandoned. The site is now registered as California Historical Landmark #619.
Gold Hill in Grass Valley, California, was the site of one of the first discoveries of quartz gold in California. While quartz gold was also found in other areas of Nevada County, California during the same time, it is this find near Wolf Creek that led to quartz-mining frenzy and subsequent creation of the Gold Country quartz-mining industry. The location is honored as a California Historical Landmark.
Poverty Bar is a former settlement in Calaveras County, California, active from c. 1850s to 1862, and now covered by the waters of Camanche Reservoir. The nearest major town is Campo Seco, California.
Middle Bar is a former mining town on the Mokelumne River in Amador County, California. It is a California Historical Landmark.
The Calaveras County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building in San Andreas, California. The brick courthouse was built in 1867 and contained the county's courtroom, jail, and sheriff's office; until 1888, executions were also conducted in the building. The county's Hall of Records was built in front of the courthouse in 1893; the two buildings nearly touch and are considered part of the same complex. The building's jail held outlaw Black Bart, a notorious Northern California highwayman, during his 1883 trial. In 1966, the county moved its courthouse to a new building; the old courthouse is now the Calaveras County Museum, which is operated by the Calaveras County Historical Society.
The Superior Court of California, County of Calaveras, also known as the Calaveras County Superior Court, is the branch of the California superior court with jurisdiction over Calaveras County.
Nevada City Jewish Cemetery is a no longer active Jewish cemetery founded in 1854 by the Nevada Hebrew Society, and located in Nevada City, Nevada County, California. The last burial was during the summer of 1890. There are only 29 headstones that are visible. On October 29, 1972, the site was dedicated as a historical site.
The site of the Old Mining Camp of Brownsville is a California Historical Landmark on Pennsylvania Gulch Road east of the town of Murphys, California in Calaveras County. The Mining Camp of Brownsville was a California Gold Rush camp in Pennsylvania Gulch in from 1850 to 1870. The camp is named after Alfred Brown, who was the former owner of the Table Mountain Ranch. There were many rich mines in the area and Brownsville Mining Camp supported this activity. So rich was the area, the Brownsville Mining District limited the size of mines in the District. Each miner could claim and own only one wet and one dry site, no larger than 150 square feet each. Brownsville Mining District was in the area of Pennsylvania Gulches and Missouri Gulches 2 miles from Murphys. There are no remains of the camp, but nearby is the Brownsville Mining District Cemetery. A plaque monument was dedicated on July 19, 1953, by California State Park Commission with the monument base built by Christa Parlor No. 137 and Ruby Parlor No. 49 of the Native Daughters of the Golden West.
Peter L. Traver Building is a historical building in Murphys, California in Calaveras County. The building was built by Peter L. Traver in 1856. The building is the oldest stone building in Murphys. Being made of stone, built with iron shutters and Peter L. Traver Building placing sand on the roof protected the building from the town's many fires. Fire swept through the town in 1859, 1874, and 1893. Peter L. Traver was a gold Rush miner who opened a general store in the building. Traver sold the building to the Manuel Estate Company in 1883. Over the years the building has been a general store, warehouse, a Wells Fargo office, and auto repair garage. From age and lack of repairs, the building was set to be taken down in 1949. Dr. Coke Wood and his wife Ethelyn after hearing this, purchased and restored the building. The descendants of the Woods family have turned the Peter L. Traver Building into the Murphys Old Timers Museum. In 2016 the Museum became a community museum, run by volunteers and supported by donations and gift shop sales. Many in the community have donated artifacts to the Museum about Murphys' gold-rush history. The Peter L. Traver Building is a California Historical Landmark No. 266.
Reading's Bar is a historical site in Reading, California in Shasta County. Reading's Bar is a California Historical Landmark No. 32 listed on August 1, 1932. Reading's Bar is gold find site and was named after Major Pierson Barton Reading. Reading discovered gold on the Clear Creek bar in May 1848, starting a California Gold Rush in the surrounding area. Later he found gold on a sandbar on the Trinity River that stated the Trinity Alps Gold Rush. Reading gold discovery was a major part of the California Gold Rush and news of the find started the Northern California 49ers Gold Rush. Reading started to look for gold soon after hearing about the Sutter's Mill gold discovery. Reading worked as John Sutter’s clerk and trapper in 1844.
Because of the Reading's Bar gold discovery a number of small mining towns grew up on and north of the Clear Creek including: Horsetown, Briggsville, Muletown, Lower Springs, Texas Springs, Middletown, Piety Hill, Igo, Larkin, Jackass Flat, Ono, Bald Hills, Janesville, and to the north Whiskeytown, Shasta, Tower House, and French Gulch.
