Fluhr, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
34°56′35″N 117°57′03″W / 34.94306°N 117.95083°W / 34.94306
Elevation:
2,372 ft (723 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Fluhr is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad 2 miles (3.2 km) north-northwest of Edwards, at an elevation of 2372 ft (723 m). Fluhr still appeared on maps as of 1942. The name honors C.G. Fluhr, railroad official.
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Fountain Springs, CA
County:
Tulare
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°53′28″N 118°54′56″W / 35.891111°N 118.915556°W / 35.891111 -118.915556
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Fountain Springs was a settlement established in Tulare County before 1855, at the junction of the Stockton – Los Angeles Road and the road to the Kern River gold mines. From 1858 to 1861, Fountain Springs was a station on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, 14 miles southeast of Tule River Station and 12 miles north of Mountain House. The site of the settlement was 1 1/2 miles northwest of the California Historical Landmark NO. 648 on the southwest corner of County Roads J22 and M 109 (old Springville Stage Route), in Tulare County, California.
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Fram, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°05′58″N 118°11′11″W / 35.09944°N 118.18639°W / 35.09944 -118.18639
Elevation:
3,107 ft (947 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Fram is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the Southern Pacific Railroad 3 miles (4.8 km) north-northwest of Mojave, at an elevation of 3107 ft (947 m). Fram still appeared on maps as of 1915.
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Freeman Junction, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35.60166°N 117.90295°W
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Freeman Junction, a ghost town in Kern County, California, USA, was first homesteaded in the 1920s by Clare C. Miley, who was born in 1900. By the 1930s a restaurant, gas station and mining activities dominated the site. By June 1976 the town had died and the remains of the town have been removed by passersby. Bedrock mortars near the original spring suggest that this area was regularly used as a campsite by Native Americans.
Remains:
In 1834 explorer Joseph R. Walker passed this junction of Indian trails after crossing the Sierra Nevada via Walker Pass. In the winter of 1849-50, forty-niner parties, en route to the California gold fields, passed through here after escaping from Death Valley. In 1873 or early 1874, Freeman S. Raymond, an original forty-niner, bought or built a stagecoach station here, at the junction of the Walker Pass road (the route of modern California 178) and the road to Los Angeles (now replaced by California State Route 14). Both roads carried traffic to and from the mines than in the area. The Walker Pass road led to the Kern River mines, while the Los Angeles road continued further north and east to the mines at Cerro Gordo, the Panamints, and later Darwin and Bodie, California.
Current Status:
Raymond continued operating the stagecoach stop, which after 1889 or 1890 included a post office, until his death in August 1909. The station burned down a few years later. The Los Angeles Aqueduct now passes through the site. California Historical Landmark #766 is located nearby, besides California 178 within sight of the junction with California 14.
Remarks:
On February 25, 1874, Tiburcio Vasquez and his associates robbed several freight wagon crews at Raymond’s station (then called Coyote Holes). They had apparently scouted the location from a nearby rock formation, now known as Robber’s Roost. Vasquez’s group also ambushed and robbed an arriving stagecoach before making their escape. One of the robbery victims was shot in the leg.
Fremont Valley, CA
County:
Calaveras
Zip Code:
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Fremont Valley is a former settlement in Calaveras County, 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Jenny Lind, California, United States. A post office operated at Fremont Valley in 1879.
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French Flat, CA
County:
Inyo
Zip Code:
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Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Furnace, CA
County:
Inyo
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
36°11′25″N 116°39′50″W / 36.19028°N 116.66389°W / 36.19028 -116.66389
Elevation:
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Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Furnace is a former settlement in Inyo County, California. It was located 6.5 miles (10 km) north-northwest of Funeral Peak, in the Funeral Mountains. Patrick Clark founded the Furnace Creek Copper Company at the place in Death Valley. Furnace was a boomtown by 1905, but deserted by 1907. The Furnace post office operated from 1907 to 1908.
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Furnace Creek Inn, CA
County:
Inyo
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
36°27′02″N 116°51′06″W / 36.4505041°N 116.8517190°W / 36.4505041
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Furnace Creek Inn is an unincorporated settlement in central Death Valley, within Inyo County, eastern California. It is located at the Inn at Death Valley, near the mouth of the Furnace Creek Wash above Furnace Creek, California.
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Gamba, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Gamba is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad 4.5 miles (7.2 km) southeast of Mojave.
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Garlock, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°24′09″N 117°47′24″W / 35.40250°N 117.79000°W / 35.40250 -117.79000
Elevation:
2,169 ft (661 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Disestablished:
Comments:
Garlock (formerly, Eugeneville) is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located 6.25 miles (10 km) east-southeast of Saltdale, at an elevation of 2,169 ft (661 m). A post office operated at Garlock from 1896 to 1904 and from 1923 to 1926.
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Garlock is a ghost town that was known as El Paso City or Cow Wells interchangeably. The little town provided water for cattlemen and freighters wishing to avoid the potentially treacherous washes in Red Rock Canyon. Some gold had been found in the canyons of the El Paso Mountains, enough to warrant an arrastra being built in 1887. In 1893 a nugget was brought in worth $1,900 from Goler Heights (a former reference to Goler Canyon is located in Death Valley, NOT off Garlock Rd.) and so the rush began. In 1894 Eugene Garlock of Tehachapi moved into an eight stamp mill. Miners would talk of going down to “the Garlock mill,” “down to the Garlock,” and finally just “Garlock.”
Current Status:
The site is now registered as California Historical Landmark #671.
Remarks:
Gibsonville, CA
County:
Sierra
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°44′25″N 120°54′32″W / 39.74028°N 120.90889°W / 39.74028
Elevation:
5,430 ft (1,660 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Gibsonville is an unincorporated community in Sierra County, California, United States. Gibsonville is 3 miles (4.8 km) west-northwest of Mount Fillmore. A post office opened in Gibsonville in 1855 and closed in 1910.
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Girard, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Girard is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the railroad halfway between Tehachapi and Keene.
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Goffs, CA
County:
San Bernardino
Zip Code:
92332
Latitude / Longitude:
34°55′09″N 115°03′46″W / 34.91917°N 115.06278°W / 34.91917
Elevation:
2,595 ft (791 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
1893
Disestablished:
Comments:
Goffs, an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, is a nearly empty one-time railroad town at the route’s high point in the Mojave Desert. Goffs was a stop on famous U.S. Route 66 until 1931 when a more direct road opened between Needles and Essex. Goffs was also home to workers of the nearby Santa Fe Railroad, with Homer east, Fenner south, and Blackburn and Purdy north.
Remains:
Goffs was known as Blake between 1893 and 1902. It was named for Isaac Blake, the builder of the Nevada Southern Railway (later the California Eastern Railway 1895–1923) that commenced here.
Current Status:
An early 20th Century general store is the town’s largest building (now abandoned). A historic schoolhouse, built in 1914 and almost totally deteriorated by the early 1980s, has since been renovated to its original plans by the Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association (MDHCA). The schoolhouse and grounds now house a museum primarily specializing in the area’s mining history. Remnants of Goffs’s mining days still dot the town. Goffs is accessible off Interstate 40 at U.S. Highway 95 north. A left turn onto Goffs Road, the pre-1931 alignment of US 66, becomes a desolate forty-mile (64 km) stretch that served as home to several towns that have mostly vanished, including Bannock, Ibis, and the aforementioned Homer. Continuing west on Goffs Road brings motorists back to I-40 northeast of the town of Essex.
Remarks:
Goffs Road is featured in the opening scene of the 1984 cult classic Repo Man (film). Goffs is located at the foothills of the northern terminus of the Piute Mountains; the location is also the southern terminus of the Lanfair Valley which drains south from the east region of the Mojave National Preserve. The drainage is the Sacramento Wash which turns due east to meet the Piute Wash, just west of the Colorado River. Goffs is on the foothill bajadas that drain northward into Sacramento Wash.
Gold Town, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°00′06″N 118°10′08″W / 35.00167°N 118.16889°W / 35.00167 -118.16889
Elevation:
2,713 ft (827 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Gold Town is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 9.5 miles (15 km) north of Rosamond, at an elevation of 2713 ft (827 m). Fleta, California is 0.62 miles northeast of Gold Town. Mojave, California is 1.44 miles to the north. Gold mines exist within 2 miles to the north and south of Gold Town. These mines include the Golden Queen Mine and Elephant Eagle mine on Soledad Mountain south of Gold Town, and Whitmore Mine and Treasure Mine on Standard Mountain north of Gold Town. KHXT-FM (Mojave) radio tower, at an elevation of 3,028 ft (923 meters) above sea level, is 1.56 miles southeast of Gold Town. The California Aqueduct Road is located about 5 miles to the west of Gold Town.
Remains:
From the early 1900s to the 1980s, the Golden Queen Mine was active on and off, using an open pit, underground works, and heap leaching. About +100,000 tons of tailings were created over the years. Due to erosion, some of these tailings reached the alluvial fan surface. The tailings contain elevated levels of arsenic. “Significant potential human health risks to the community and regional environmental impacts may have resulted from the release of arsenic-bearing tailings into the waters of the state and airborne sources.” according to the Bureau of Land Management.
Current Status:
Today, Gold Town exists only as a grid of dirt roads and a few abandoned buildings and mines in the desert of the California State Route 14. Silver Queen Road is the main paved road that connects Gold Town to California State Route 14.
Remarks:
Construction has begun to re-open the Golden Queen Mine. Commissioning is planned for 2015. This is part of the Soledad Mountain Project. Open-pit mining, cyanide heap leaching, and Merrill-Crowe processes will be used to recover gold and silver from crushed, agglomerated ore. The heap leach pad for the mine will be located near Gold Town, according to Kern County Planning and Community Development Department.
Goler Heights, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°25′37″N 117°44′45″W / 35.42694°N 117.74583°W / 35.42694 -117.74583
Elevation:
2,579 ft (786 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Disestablished:
Comments:
Goler Heights, also known simply as Goler, is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located 6.5 miles (10 km) northwest of Randsburg, at an elevation of 2579 ft (786 m). The town is named after John Goller (or Goler), a German immigrant who discovered a placer gold deposit that was later mined and named in his honor.
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Greasertown, CA
County:
Calaveras
Zip Code:
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Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Greasertown (also, Petersburg) is a former settlement in Calaveras County, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of San Andreas, on the west side of the Calaveras River. The town was rumored to have received its name due to what one-time resident and schoolteacher Margaret Blanc described as “a straggling settlement … with canvas tents and wooden shanties of which it consisted the abodes of … Mexicans who packed and drove mules up to the mines with provisions for the diggers at work on the banks on the Mokelumne and Calaveras.” Blanc said the town was in fact diverse, with many nationalities represented. She wrote that the town included, “About 30 children made up of all classes, nationalities, and ages.”
Remains:
According to “Grizzly Bear” author J. Rush Bronson, in the late 1850s, Petersburg boasted a population of approximately 200 Chinese immigrants mining the river bars on the Calaveras River and 25 white men. Bronson tells a tale of a miner-style battle. The Chinese and white miners “came in conflict with each other May 15 over control of a dam, the white miners fighting to maintain it and the Chinamen to destroy it. The battle lasted over an hour and was fought with rocks, clubs, and shovels. About a score of Chinamen was disabled, some being seriously hurt and after being driven off they had the white men arrested for battery.”
Current Status:
After the heavy rains of 1907, residents of flood-ravaged Stockton sought to dam the Calaveras River to prevent further flooding. The condemnation of Petersburg was completed on June 25, 1924, clearing the way for the first dam on the Calaveras River. The dam flooded the old mining town under 115,000-acre ft of water when it was completed in 1930. It is named for Walter Byron Hogan, one-time engineer, and city manager for Stockton.
Remarks:
At times, however, Petersburg residents showed a more philanthropic side. The Marin Journal of Oct. 18, 1862, reported that a relief fund for sick and wounded soldiers sent east by the Sanitary Committee of San Francisco included a contribution from Calaveras County. “A little town in Calaveras County, with only about 50 voters, contributes $404; the name of this philanthropic place is Greasertown.”
Greenwater, CA
County:
Inyo
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
36°10′46″N 116°36′59″W / 36.17944°N 116.61639°W / 36.17944 -116.61639
Elevation:
4,288 ft (1,307 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Greenwater – formerly, Ramsey, The Camp, and Kunze – was an unincorporated community near Death Valley in eastern Inyo County, California. It is now a deserted ghost town. Greenwater was a mining town in the Mojave Desert that saw its rise and fall within the first decade of the 20th century.
Remains:
The original townsite, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the current site and called Kunze after its founder Arthur Kunze, was abandoned in favor of the current site, which was originally called Ramsey. A post office operated at Greenwater from 1906 to 1908.
Current Status:
Eventually, the town grew to 2,000 people and became known for a local magazine, The Death Valley Chuckwalla. By 1909 the copper mining had collapsed without ever turning a profit and the residents left town for other areas. Today, there is nothing left of Greenwater.
Remarks:
Founded around a copper ore strike in 1905 the town of Greenwater was a short-lived Death Valley community. So dry was its region that water had to be hauled into the town. The lucrative business of water barrel salesman fetched any entrepreneur $15 per barrel; in 1913 that equaled over $250 in 2004 dollars.
Greenwich, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Greenwich is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Old Town, near the modern-day site of Tehachapi. Greenwich was founded by Peter D. Greene in the 1870s. A post office operated at Greenwich from 1875 to 1893, when the service was moved to Tehachapi.
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Gerstley, CA
County:
Inyo
Zip Code:
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Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Gerstley is a former settlement in Inyo County, California. It was located on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Shoshone.
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Current Status:
Gerstley was founded around 1921, and named in honor of James Gerstley, Sr. by his business associate Francis Marion Smith who built the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Together with Richard C. Baker, the three men had formed Borax Consolidated, Ltd. in 1899.
Remarks:
Grub Gulch, CA
County:
Madera
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
37°19′29″N 119°46′15″W / 37.32472°N 119.77083°W / 37.32472 -119.77083
Elevation:
2,474 ft (754 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Grub Gulch (also, Grubgulch) is a former settlement in Madera County, California. It was located 10.5 miles (17 km) northeast of Raymond, at an elevation of 2474 ft (754 m). The Grubgulch post office operated from 1883 to 1918.
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Gullion’s Bar, CA
County:
Siskiyou
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
41° 17′ 48″ N, 123° 21′ 36″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Gullion’s Bar was a placer gold mining camp on the Salmon River, now located in Siskiyou County, California. It was located originally in Trinity County, in 1850.
Remains:
Gullion’s Bar was one of the largest gold producers in Trinity County in 1850, along with Negro Flat, Bestville, and Sawyers Bar. In 1851, it became part of Klamath County. Eventually, the Gullion’s Bar placers played out. However, another strike on Nordheimer’s Creek in the summer of 1858, on the same section of the Salmon River, revived the camp on what is now Nordheimer Flat. By 1868 it was equipped with a 2-mile ditch, to provide water to the mines.
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Gyle, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Gyle is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 23.5 miles (38 km) southwest of Delano. A post office operated at Gyle from 1888 to 1889.
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Haiwee, CA
County:
Inyo
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
36°08′48″N 117°58′33″W / 36.14667°N 117.97583°W / 36.14667 -117.97583
Elevation:
4,075 ft (1,242 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Haiwee (formerly McGuire’s, Hawai, Hawaii and Hayways) is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It is located on the Southern Pacific Railroad 24 miles (39 km) south-southwest of Keeler, at an elevation of 4075 ft (1242 m).
Remains:
The settlement there began in 1864, as a way stops at Haiwai Meadows on the road between Visalia and the Owens Valley. The stop was run by a man named McGuire and his wife and young son. McGuire’s wife and son were killed in an Indian attack while he was away on January 1, 1865. Owens Valley settler militia avenged their deaths, with an attack on the Indian village where the killers had taken refuge, in the Owens Lake Massacre on January 6, 1865. This was one of the last fights in the Owens Valley Indian War.
Current Status:
The original settlement site and the Haiwai Meadows are under the water of the Haiwee Reservoir. The town moved to a site west of the reservoir. A post office operated at Haiwee from 1906 to 1913, moving in 1909.
Remarks:
Hamilton, CA
County:
Butte
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Hamilton is a former settlement in Butte County, California, United States, and was its first permanent county seat. It was located on the west side of the Feather River, 15 miles (24 km) downstream from Oroville.
Remains:
John Bidwell discovered gold at Hamilton in 1848, and the settlement arose. The place was named Hamilton in honor of the nephew of Alexander Hamilton who laid out the town. Hamilton became the county seat in 1850 after Chico had been the county seat, for approximately six weeks in 1850, based on a provision in the 1850 statute creating counties that Butte’s seat would be Butte City or Chico, whichever was chosen by the voters at the first election for county judges.
Current Status:
All that is visible from this old town is an overgrown cemetery and the pillars of an old bridge.
Remarks:
Hart, CA
County:
San Bernardino
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°17′20″N 115°6′12″W / 35.28889°N 115.10333°W / 35.28889 -115.10333t
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Hart was a short-lived gold mining town located in the Mojave desert, in San Bernardino County, California. It existed between 1908 and 1915 and was located on the northeastern edge of Lanfair Valley near the New York Mountains. The area is now in the Mojave National Preserve, directed by the National Park Service.
Remains:
In late 1907, while a depression gripped the nation, three prospectors from Goldfield – James Hart and the brothers Bert and Clark Hitt – found pockets of rich gold ore in the Castle Mountains, approximately four miles south of the Barnwell & Searchlight Railroad. The strike was touted as the “Second Goldfield bonanza”. In early 1908, prospectors swarmed to the strike. During the next few months, 700 people arrived, a camp was established, a telephone line was strung to Barnwell, the weekly newspaper Enterprise started up, a voting precinct and justice-court township were created, and a post office was established.
Current Status:
All the other mines had the same fate. The pockets of high-grade ore proved small, and mining declined as soon as 1909. The largest mine besides the Oro Belle was the Big Chief, originally called the Jumbo, also owned by the Hart brothers. A 10 Stamp mill was built at this mine. Other mines included the Twin Peaks, the Flyer, the Florence, the Zinc-Graf property, and the Todd Hunter lease.
Remarks:
The Enterprise and other businesses closed. A fire wiped out much of the business district (largely deserted); the leading mines suspended work and the miners’ union was disbanded. The court district and voting precinct were abolished, and the post office closed in late 1915.
Hatfields Camp, CA
County:
Zip Code:
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Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Hoboken, CA
County:
Sacramento
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
38° 33′ 28″ N, 121° 25′ 4″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Norristown, or Hoboken, was an ephemeral California Gold Rush settlement and steamboat landing on the American River in present-day Sacramento County, California.
Remains:
It was located on the south bank of the American River, four miles east of Sacramento on a road leading to the goldfields, that later became L Street, in the vicinity of what is now the California State University Sacramento.
Current Status:
Norristown was built above the reach of flooding by the river, unlike Sacramento below it. During the flooding of Sacramento in 1852–53, it began as a settlement called Hoboken, for citizens of Sacramento who fled the inundation of their city. Sam Norris who owned the land tried to make it a permanent settlement, however, most of the refugees returned to Sacramento and Norristown failed to grow and soon vanished.
Remarks:
Hodson, CA
County:
Calaveras
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
37°59′48″N 120°41′08″W / 37.99667°N 120.68556°W / 37.99667 -120.68556
Elevation:
971 ft (296 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Hodson is a former settlement in Calaveras County, California. It lay at an elevation of 971 ft (296 m), 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west-northwest of Copperopolis. A post office operated at Hodson from 1898 to 1906, and again from 1915 to 1917. The town was named in honor of J.J. Hodson, a copper mining financier.
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Hokokwito, CA
County:
Mariposa
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
37°45′30″N 119°35′43″W / 37.75833°N 119.59528°W / 37.75833 -119.59528
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Hokokwito (also, Hococwedoc and Hok-ok-wi-dok) is a former Miwok settlement in Mariposa County, California. It was located in Yosemite Valley, opposite Yosemite Falls.
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Holy City, CA
County:
Santa Clara
Zip Code:
95026
Latitude / Longitude:
37°09′25″N 121°58′44″W / 37.1568904°N 121.9788476°W / 37.1568904
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Holy City is an unincorporated community in Santa Clara County, California. Once considered a Utopian community in the 1920s and 1930s, it’s arguably now a ghost town. The town is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, off State Route 17 on Old Santa Cruz Highway. It is part of the Lexington Hills census-designated place. Its ZIP code is 95026, and its area codes are 408 and 669. Holy City was founded in 1919 by cult-leader William E. Riker and about thirty of his followers. Calling his ideology “The Perfect Christian Divine Way”, Riker preached celibacy, temperance, white supremacy, and segregation of the races and sexes.
Remains:
Riker bought the 142 acres (57 ha) that became Holy City. During the early years, the city was the only development between Santa Cruz and San Jose, known for its strange roadside attraction signs. They attracted tourists to a restaurant, service station, zoo, observatory, peep show, soda stand, barbershop, shoe repair. The town was incorporated in 1926. The religious community had no church; services were held in Riker’s home. By the 1930s the PCDW confirmed disciples probably never numbered more than about 30 people, however, the population of Holy City and the surrounding neighborhood peaked at around 300. By 1938, only 75 men and 4 women lived at the site.
Current Status:
The developers who purchased the property eventually put it up for sale in 2006, but it lingered on the market until 2016 when it was bought for $6 million by Robert and Trish Duggan. The Holy City Zoo, a former comedy club in San Francisco, had the sign, table, and chairs that all came from the original site of the zoo.
Remarks:
The town began to further decline in population in the 1940s, with the construction of State Route 17. Holy City was no longer on the main route through the mountains. With the end of the Depression, many of Riker’s followers were able to find work elsewhere. The town was disincorporated in 1959, and Riker lost control of the property. Several of the buildings mysteriously burned down shortly afterward.
Horseshoe Bend, CA
County:
Mariposa
Zip Code:
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Horseshoe Bend is a mining ghost town of the California Gold Rush, formerly on the Merced River in Mariposa County, California
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It was originally a placer and hydraulic gold mining camp in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Horseshoe Bend was about three miles southwest of Coulterville, California at its peak this mining camp had 400 residences. Its site is now submerged under the waters of Lake McClure reservoir. Horseshoe Bend was covered in 1926 with the completion of the Exchequer Dam. In honor of the mining camp, there is on Lake McClure a Horseshoe Bend campground. John Muir studied the area of Horseshoe Bend and wrote about the Adenostoma fasciculatum plant, a flowering plant, type of chaparral.
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Hollands, CA
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Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Horton, CA
County:
Inyo
Zip Code:
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Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Horton is a former settlement in Inyo County, California. It was located at the junction of the Death Valley and Tonopah and Tidewater Railroads 3.2 miles (5.1 km) east-southeast Death Valley Junction. The name honors Ben Horton, railroad company official.
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Independence Flat, CA
County:
Calaveras
Zip Code:
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Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Independence Flat is a former settlement in Calaveras County, California, approximately 2 miles (3 km) west of Mokelumne Hill.
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Indian Gulch, CA
County:
Mariposa
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
37°26′22″N 120°11′49″W / 37.43944°N 120.19694°W / 37.43944
Elevation:
968 ft (295 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Disestablished:
Comments:
Indian Gulch (formerly, Indiangulch and Santa Cruz) is an unincorporated community in Mariposa County, California. It lies at an elevation of 968 ft (295 m).
Remains:
A post office operated at Indian Gulch from 1855 to 1912, with a closure during part of 1901. The place was originally called Santa Cruz from the nearby Santa Cruz Mountain 1.25 miles (2 km) to the north-northwest of the town.
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Indian Springs, CA
County:
Mendocino
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°44’01″N 123°22’26″W
Elevation:
1,197 ft (365 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Indian Springs is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It lies at an elevation of 1197 feet (365 m).
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Inmans, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°25′42″N 118°21′06″W / 35.42833°N 118.35167°W / 35.42833 -118.35167
Elevation:
7,408 ft (2,258 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Inmans is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It lay at an elevation of 7408 ft (2258 m). Inmans still appeared on maps as of 1947.
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Intake, CA
County:
Inyo
Zip Code:
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Intake is a former settlement in Inyo County, California. It was located at the eastern end of the aqueduct from Owens Valley to Los Angeles 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Aberdeen.
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Iowa Hill, CA
County:
Placer
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
39°06′31″N 120°51′34″W / 39.10861°N 120.85944°W / 39.10861 -120.85944
Elevation:
2,861 ft (872 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Iowa Hill (formerly, Iowa City) is an unincorporated community in Placer County, California. The town is located 6.5 miles northwest of Foresthill 9 miles east of Colfax and 58 miles northeast of Sacramento. It lies at an elevation of 2861 ft. The community relies completely upon solar panels and generators for power. The population is around 200 people. Iowa Hill Road claims a small handful of lives every decade, and along with its “off-grid” status, prevents the town from growing in population. The community boasts many hardcore cyclists and is appealing to visitors due to the abundance of recreational opportunities.
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Iowa Hill Road is a very steep, one-lane, winding road embedded within the mountains. There are no safety guardrails. Since ambulance service from Colfax takes a long time, emergency medical transport is supplemented by CALSTAR, the area’s air rescue helicopter. A landing pad is located next to the town firehouse.
Current Status:
In 1920 a fire took hold that virtually destroyed the town. What remains is an old Wells Fargo vault, the old firehouse, a couple of other old buildings, and two cemeteries. Iowa Hill is now registered as California Historical Landmark #401.
Remarks:
In 1851 or 1852, miners from Iowa discovered gold here. The Iowa City post office opened in 1854. Stores, breweries, saloons, fraternal lodges, homes, a church, a school, and Temperance Hall are examples of businesses thriving in Iowa Hill in the mid-1850s. The town was producing about one hundred thousand dollars per week in gold in 1867. In 1901, the post office changed its name to Iowa Hill.
Isabella, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°39′20″N 118°27′40″W / 35.65556°N 118.46111°W / 35.65556
Elevation:
2,516 ft (767 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Isabella is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north-northeast of Bodfish, at an elevation of 2516 ft (767 m). The site was inundated by Lake Isabella.
Remains:
A post office operated at the original site of Isabella from 1896 to 1953, then at the relocated site from 1953 until the name was changed to Lake Isabella in 1957. The town was founded by Steven Barton in 1893 and named in honor of Queen Isabella of Spain while her name was current during the 1893 Columbian Exposition.
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Ivanpah, CA
County:
San Bernardino
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°32′42″N 115°32′7″W / 35.54500°N 115.53528°W / 35.54500
Elevation:
3,520 ft (1,070 m)
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Ivanpah is in the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California. There are several residences in the area, but no real village. Ivanpah is located on the bajada below the northeast side of the New York Mountains overlooking the broad Ivanpah Valley. The Ivanpah Mountains lie across the valley to the northwest.
Remains:
Ivanpah is located at the crossing of Ivanpah Road and the Union Pacific Railroad, which was the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad until 1921 when it was bought out by Union Pacific. There was once a general store located here.
Current Status:
Ivanpah is also the home of the largest thermal solar power facility in the world which opened officially on February 13, 2014. (see Ivanpah Solar Power Facility)
Remarks:
The original name for this crossing was Leastalk. The California Eastern Railway crossed the LA&SL railroad at this location. The California Eastern Railway became part of California, Arizona, and Santa Fe Railway, which abandoned operations in 1918, with the tracks being pulled up in 1921.
Jaeger City, CA
County:
Imperial
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
32° 43′ 52″ N, 114° 37′ 47″ W
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Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Jaeger City or Jaegerville was a former settlement in what is now Imperial County, California, at Jaeger’s Ferry on the Colorado River a mile downstream from Fort Yuma. It was named for L. J. F. Jaeger who ran the ferry there from 1851.
Remains:
Jaeger City, then in San Diego County, California was the first and largest settlement near the fort until 1862. It began as a stockade for the defense of the ferry and its operators against the Quechan, and a collection of tents. It was a station of the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line from 1857 to 1860. At its height, it consisted of the Fort Yuma Station of the Butterfield Overland Mail and its local office, a hotel, two blacksmiths, two stores, and other dwellings. Colorado City began in 1853 lay across the river and Arizona City lay a mile above it across from Fort Yuma.
Current Status:
The site is located southeast of Winterhaven, California. All trace of the settlement has been washed away by the flooding of the river since 1862.
Remarks:
Jaeger City was destroyed, along with Colorado City across the river, in the Great Flood of 1862. Jaeger City was never rebuilt. Jaeger’s Ferry was rebuilt and Colorado City also, on higher ground as part of Arizona City, later renamed Yuma, Arizona in 1873, and the ferry relocated there across from the fort.
Jay, CA
County:
Inyo
Zip Code:
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Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Jay is a former settlement in Inyo County, California. It was located on the railroad 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Evelyn.
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Joe Walker Town, CA
County:
Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
35°25′20″N 118°29′35″W / 35.42222°N 118.49306°W / 35.42222 -118.49306
Elevation:
Time Zone:
Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments:
Joe Walker Town is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located in the Walker Basin near Joe Walker Mine. The place was named after Joe Walker (as was the mine and basin).
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Joyfull, CA
County: Kern
Zip Code:
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Joyfull (also, Joyful) is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Bakersfield.
Remains: Joyfull was founded by Isaac Rumford in 1881 as a Utopian colony under the auspices of the Association of Brotherly Cooperation. The Joyful post office operated from 1883 to 1884, when the colony was abandoned.
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