Ghost Towns of California (P-R)

Ghost Towns Of California P R

Packwood, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 35°35′15″N 120°03′37″W / 35.58750°N 120.06028°W / 35.58750 -120.06028
Elevation: 1,375 ft (419 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Packwood (also, Packwood’s) is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 11 miles (18 km) south-southeast of Orchard Peak, at an elevation of 1375 ft (419 m). Packwood still appeared on maps as of 1947.
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Packwood Station, CA

County: Tulare
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Packwood Station was a settlement established in Tulare County in 1857, on the Stockton – Los Angeles Road. From 1858 to 1861, it was a stagecoach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, 12 miles southeast of Visalia and 14 miles north of Tule River Station.
Remains: The exact site of the settlement is unknown. It lay on land owned by the prosperous cattleman Elisha Packwood. In the winter of 1861 – 1862, the station, Packwood’s cattle, and all his other property were swept away in the floodwaters of the Great Flood of 1862. His once fertile land was buried in sand, making the vicinity worthless and the site unrecognizable. Losing all his net worth of $40,000 and nearly his life, Packwood moved to Oregon to attempt to rebuild his fortune.
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Page, CA

County: Kern
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Page is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the railroad 5 miles (8 km) south of Famoso.
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Paloma, CA

County: Calaveras
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 35°10′22″N 119°09′50″W / 35.17278°N 119.16389°W / 35.17278
Elevation: 1,362 ft (415 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Paloma (Spanish for “dove”; formerly, Fosteria and Frenchman’s Ranch) is an unincorporated community in Calaveras County, California. It lies at an elevation of 1362 ft (415 m) and is located at 38°15’34″N 120°45’48″W. The community is in ZIP code 95252 and area code 209.
Remains: Gwin Mine, Paloma, and Lower Rich Gulch were mined for placer gold in 1849, and quartz was discovered by J. Alexander in 1851. Property here was acquired by William M. Gwin, California’s first U.S. Senator, in 1851. After yielding millions of dollars in gold, the Gwin Mine closed in 1908.
Current Status: The town today is registered as California Historical Landmark #295. The town’s post office operated from 1903 to 1918, when the name was Fosteria – from the Foster family, early pioneers.
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Panamint City, CA

County: Inyo
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 36°07′06″N 117°05′43″W / 36.11833°N 117.09528°W / 36.11833
Elevation: 6,302 ft (1,921 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Panamint City is a ghost town in the Panamint Range, near Death Valley, in Inyo County, California, USA. It is also known by the official Board of Geographic Names as Panamint. Panamint was a boomtown founded after silver and copper were found there in 1872. By 1874, the town had a population of about 2,000. Its main street was one mile (1.6 km) long. Panamint had its own newspaper, the Panamint News. Silver was the principal product mined in the area. The town is located about three miles northwest of Sentinel Peak. According to the National Geographic Names Database, NAD27 latitude and longitude for the locale are 36°07’06″N 117°05’43″W, and the feature ID number is 1661185. The elevation of this location is identified as being 6,280 ft AMSL. The similar-sounding Panamint Springs, California, is located about 25.8 miles at 306.4 degrees off true north near Panamint Junction.
Remains: Founded in 1873-74, the town grew to include many mills, saloons, stores, a red-light district, and a cemetery – all built along the uppermost end of Surprise Canyon. Panamint City was regarded as a “bad and wicked” town. Because of Panamint City’s lawless reputation, Wells Fargo refused to open an office there. The senators solved the question of how to transport the silver bullion from the mines by casting it into 450-pound cannonballs, which were hauled to Los Angeles in an unguarded wagon.
Current Status: Silver was discovered by William L. Kennedy, Robert L. Stewart, and Richard C. Jacobs, bandits who were using Surprise Canyon as a hideout. EP Raines, an early investor in Panamint mining, convinced a group of Los Angeles businessmen to build a wagon road and then moved on to San Francisco, where he met Nevada Senator John P. Jones. Jones and the other Nevada Senator, William M. Stewart, created the Panamint Mining Company and bought up the larger mines. The two were quite famous for their heavy involvement in silver mining in Nevada, and their interest in Panamint started the boom.
Remarks: Panamint City is the site of the largest and most elaborate group of Coso Painted Style pictographs. The presence of these pictographs indicates that Surprise Canyon was inhabited by Shoshone and/or Kawaiisu not long before the town was founded.

Parsons, CA

County: Kern
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Parsons is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the Southern Pacific Railroad 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Wible Orchard.
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Pasinogna, CA

County: San Bernardino
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 33° 59′ 24″ N, 117° 43′ 3″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Pasinogna (also, Pasinog-na and Passinogna) is a former Tongva-Gabrieleño Native American settlement in San Bernardino County, California.
Remains: This Indian village, identified by name by Hugo Reid in his seminal work on local tribes in 1852, was not, however, specified by location. It is known that it was located on the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, in the Chino Hills, near present-day Chino. Probably, like many other villages, where ranchos were later located, it was in the vicinity of the adobe of the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, near Chino Creek or its tributary Little Chino Creek. That later creek, with Carbon Canyon to its west, would provide an easy route through the Chino Hills that would connect it to the villages of the coastal plain of what is now Orange County.
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Patchen, CA

County: Santa Clara
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Patchen is a ghost town nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in unincorporated west Santa Clara County, California. It is located along the Old Santa Cruz Highway, east of State Route 17.
Remains: California became an American territory in 1846. The earliest known permanent white settler in what became Patchen was Charles Henry “Mountain Charley” McKiernan. In the 1850s and 1860s, McKiernan built roads throughout his property on the summit of the mountains and operated a toll road down an old Indian trail near the site. In 1850, McKiernan settled near the lagoon about one mile south. On May 8, 1854, McKiernan and John Taylor, a neighbor, were hunting with Taylor’s dog. They both shots at a grizzly bear and McKiernan hit the bear but only dazed it. Not having time to reload his gun, McKiernan hit the bear over the head with his rifle until it broke. The enraged bear rose up and made a snap at Charley, catching him over the left eye and forehead, crushing his skull, and tearing out a piece about five by three inches. Three San Jose doctors crafted a silver plate from two Mexican pesos and patched the hole in Charley’s head without the benefit of anesthetics. Grizzly bears were reportedly hunted into extinction in California; the last reported sighting of a grizzly in the Santa Cruz Mountains was in November 1885 near Bonny Doon. McKiernan lived until January 16, 1892.
Current Status: Directly across the road from the town’s site is California Historical Landmark marker #448 commemorating the town and the legend of “Mountain Charley.” This was the first settlement in the area and centered on the Post Office, called Patchen.
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Pattees Ranch, CA

County: Calaveras
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Pattees Ranch is a former settlement in Calaveras County, 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Jenny Lind. A post office operated at Pattees Ranch from 1865 to 1871.
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Petersburg, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 35°36′09″N 118°36′13″W / 35.60250°N 118.60361°W / 35.60250
Elevation: 4,731 ft (1,442 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Petersburg (also, Petersburgh and Greenhorn) is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on Greenhorn Creek 4.5 miles (7.2 km) west-northwest of Miracle Hot Springs, at an elevation of 4731 ft (1442 m). Petersburg still appeared on maps as of 1956.
Remains: A post office operated at Petersburgh from 1858 to 1863. The place was named for Peter Gardett, early merchant there.
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Petro, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 35°41′47″N 119°19′49″W / 35.69639°N 119.33028°W / 35.69639 -119.33028
Elevation: 292 ft (89 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Petro is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad 7.25 miles (12 km) north of Wasco, at an elevation of 292 ft (89 m). Petro still appeared on maps as of 1947.
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Petroleopolis, CA

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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Phillip’s Flat, CA

County: Mariposa
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Phillip’s Flat is a former settlement in Mariposa County, California. It was located on the Merced River, 7 miles (11 km) north of Hornitos. A post office operated at Phillip’s Flat from 1857 to 1858.
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Picacho, CA

County: Imperial
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 33°01′23″N 114°36′40″W / 33.02306°N 114.61111°W / 33.02306 -114.61111
Elevation: 203 ft (62 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Picacho is an unincorporated community in Imperial County, California. It is located on the Colorado River 29 miles (47 km) south-southeast of Palo Verde, at an elevation of 203 ft (62 m).
Remains: Picacho, now a ghost town, was an early mining town on the Colorado River. It was named Picacho (Spanish for “big peak”) after a nearby mountain of the same name.
Current Status: The original townsite itself is beneath Imperial Reservoir, but the remains of some of the ore mills are above the lake level. The area is within Picacho State Recreation Area. The site is now registered as California Historical Landmark #193.
Remarks: Spaniards probably mined placer gold in the area as early as 1780. The area became very active when prospector Jose Maria Mendivil discovered gold veins in the nearby hills in the early 1860s. Prospectors originally used the dry placering method because the scarcity of water did not permit regular gold panning methods. Dry placering consisted of shoveling sand and gravel onto a blanket and shaking the blanket until only the heavier gold particles remain. A “blanketful” of gold could yield over $20 in gold at 1860’s prices.

Pine, CA

County: Kern
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Pine is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the railroad 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Cinco.
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Pinacate, CA

County: Riverside
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 33°45′36″N 117°14′0″W / 33.76000°N 117.23333°W / 33.76000
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Pinacate (Mexican Spanish word for the Pinacate beetle), was a small settlement east of the Pinacate Mining District in Riverside County, California. It was established when the California Southern Railroad line was built between Colton and San Diego in 1882. Due to a land title dispute, the town was moved to the north to become Perris, California, in 1885.
Remains: The Pinacate station remained and has become the location of the Orange Empire Railway Museum.
Current Status: The Pinacate Middle School is in the area.
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Piute, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 35°24′00″N 118°24′03″W / 35.40000°N 118.40083°W / 35.40000 -118.40083
Elevation: 5,016 ft (1,529 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Piute (also, Pah-ute, Pahute, and Paiute) is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 5.25 miles (8.4 km) north-northeast of Loraine (then called Paris), at an elevation of 5016 ft (1529 m).
Remains: A post office operated at Piute from 1875 to 1876 and from 1894 to 1918.
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Politana, CA

County: San Bernardino
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 34° 4′ 53″ N, 117° 18′ 18″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Politana or Apolitana was the first Spanish settlement in the San Bernardino Valley of California. It was established as a mission chapel and supply station by the Mission San Gabriel in the rancheria of the Guachama Indians that lived on the bluff that is now known as Bunker Hill, near Lytle Creek. Besides the Guachama, it was also at various times the home for colonists from New Mexico and Cahuilla people. Its most prominent landmark today is the St. Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church on Colton Avenue, just southwest of the Inland Center Mall, in San Bernardino, California.
Remains: In 1810 the Mission San Gabriel established a chapel dedicated to San Bernardino, and a supply station for travelers coming across the desert from Yuma on the Sonora to Monterey road, at the Guachama rancheria near the place now known as Bunker Hill, between Urbita Springs and present-day Colton. The location was chosen for the abundant springs in the vicinity. When the adobe buildings have completed the padres and Tongva laborers returned to San Gabriel Mission, leaving the chapel, station, and a large quantity of supplies in the charge of Mission Indians soldiers, under command of the Indian chief Hipolito. The Mission Indians rancheria (settlement) here took its name from him and became known as Politana. During the next two years, the missionary padres made frequent visits to the chapel, the Serrano Indians were friendly, and many of them went through Indian Reductions into Christianity. Grain was planted and the settlement seemed successful.
Current Status: A few Indians remained at the rancheria of Politana when American colonization began. However, it was the burial place of the Christian Indians of San Bernardino Valley. This cemetery was a sacred spot, used by the Indians of the whole valley until the graves were leveled and the land placed under cultivation. As the country was settled, the Indians decreased in numbers and dispersed, especially during the smallpox epidemic of 1862-63. The few remaining habitations fell into decay and vanished. Its cemetery became an orange grove in the late 19th century and now the site is an open lot west of the St. Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church on Colton Avenue, just southwest of the Inland Center Mall. There is now no trace of the rancheria or cemetery, except for occasional finds of pieces of tile or pottery.
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Port Chicago, CA

County: Contra Costa
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 38°02′46″N 122°01′15″W / 38.04611°N 122.02083°W / 38.04611 -122.02083
Elevation: 13 ft (4 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Port Chicago was a town on the southern banks of Suisun Bay, in Contra Costa County, California. It was located 6.5 miles (10 km) east-northeast of Martinez, at an elevation of 13 ft (4 m). It is best known as the site of a devastating explosion at its Naval Munitions Depot during World War II. The area was first settled by Anglo-American squatters between 1850 and 1851, including Josiah Knight and Samuel E. Strode. The first permanent settler was Daniel Cunningham.
Remains: Port Chicago was originally called Bay Point. The town was created when the Bay Point Land Company, with offices in San Francisco, filed an official plat map at the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office. The Southern Pacific Railroad ran through the town. In 1931, as the Great Depression worsened, Walter Van Winkle, a business leader, proposed and succeeded in getting the name of the town changed from Bay Point to Port Chicago (after the Illinois city). The Baypoint post office operated from 1897 to 1931, when it became the Port Chicago post office, closing in 1969 when the town ceased to exist.
Current Status: In 1968, all property was bought and buildings demolished by the federal government to form a safety zone around the adjacent Concord Naval Weapons Station loading docks. The Port Chicago Highway, a route from the city of Concord through the site of the former town, still exists in Contra Costa County. The portion that passed through the Concord Naval Weapons Station was blocked during the 1990s as a safety and security measure. Today, Port Chicago Highway is interrupted just past the town of Clyde and continues on the other side of the U.S. Army’s Military Ocean Terminal, Concord (formerly the Tidal Area of the Concord Naval Weapons Station) in the unincorporated community of Bay Point.
Remarks: July 17, 1944, Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion that occurred at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine. Munitions detonated while being loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for the Pacific Theater of Operations, killing 320 sailors and civilians and injuring 390 others. Most of the dead and injured were enlisted, African-American sailors. The town of Port Chicago was heavily damaged by falling debris, including huge chunks of hot metal and unexploded bombs; fortunately, none of the bombs exploded. Over 300 buildings were damaged and more than 100 people were hurt, but none in the town were killed.

Port Wine, CA

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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Proctor, CA

County: Kern
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Proctor is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It is located on the railroad 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Monolith. The site is near the current Proctor Lake.
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Prado, CA

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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Prairie City, CA

County: Sacramento
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Prairie City was a gold-mining community that once sat on the American River in the Sierra Nevada foothills, near present-day Folsom in Sacramento County, California. What was left of the town is believed to be covered in river rocks, from gold dredging of the American River in the early 1900s.
Remains: When construction was being performed for the freeway on-ramp near an Intel building, a few bodies were unearthed during construction. Though the names of these people are unknown, it is assumed they were Prairie City residents. Their skeletal remains were re-buried in the Mormon Island relocation cemetery, south of Folsom Lake.
Current Status: The general site of Prairie City is a California Historical Landmark (#464).
Remarks: The Folsom subdivision Prairie Oaks was named for it because it is believed that the city once stood in this general area.

Progress, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 39° 3′ 48″ N, 121° 48′ 4″ W
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Progress is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the Sunset Railroad 2 miles (3.2 km) north-northeast of Conner. A post office operated at Progress from 1913 to 1915.
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Providence, CA

County: San Bernardino
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 34°58′49″N 115°30′19″W / 34.98028°N 115.50528°W / 34.98028
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Providence was a short-lived silver mining town located in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It existed between 1880 and 1886. Parties of prospectors from Ivanpah found rich silver ore along the steep slopes of the Providence Mountains in the spring of 1880. The richest property turned out to be the Bonanza King, which was soon sold to a pair of sharps—Wilson Waddingham and Thomas Ewing—who had just bilked investors in a mining-stock scheme in Colorado.
Remains: Working 150 men, the two rapidly opened up the Bonanza King and put up a 20-stamp mill. A post office was established in mid-1882. Since Providence was basically a company camp, its business district remained limited to 2 general stores and 3 saloons. By then, the mine had produced $1.5 million in bullion.
Current Status: The district enjoyed several important revivals. One company built a gasoline-powered 10-stamp mill just below the Bonanza King during 1906-1907. And during World War I, an Eastern company rebuilt the mill, put up a camp supplied with electricity and running water, and reopened the mine. Smaller revivals followed during the 1920s.
Remarks: For reasons that remain unclear, Waddingham and Ewing began to lay off workers. The mill burned in mid-1885. A 5-stamp mill was built at the nearby Perseverance Mine in 1886, but the price of silver continued to slip, and the post office closed in 1892.

Purissima, CA

County: San Mateo
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 37°24′11″N 122°25′1″W / 37.40306°N 122.41694°W / 37.40306
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Purissima is a ghost town in southwestern San Mateo County, California, United States, near the junction of State Route 1 and Verde Road. Purísima means “purest” in Spanish and is most commonly used in Spanish to refer to La Purísima Concepción (the Immaculate Conception) of the Virgin Mary (note historical misspelling in English resulting in double “s”—or perhaps spelling comes from the local Portuguese influence, where the spelling from A Puríssima Conceição would be correct).
Remains: Located on José María Alviso’s Rancho Cañada de Verde y Arroyo de la Purisima in a rural area four miles (6 km) south of Half Moon Bay, the village was one of the earliest settlements on the San Mateo County coast, founded in an agricultural area in the early 1850s. The community was badly flooded by Purisima Creek in January 1862, the same month that much of northern California experienced its worst floods in history. Some fields and buildings were swept away.
Current Status: By the early 1870s, Purissima had a post office, several stores, a school, a one-story hotel known as Purissima House (owned by Richard Dougherty), and other buildings. The general store was built by Henry Husing. A lumber mill was constructed at the mouth of Purissima Canyon, to take advantage of the extensive redwood logging in the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains.
Remarks: Henry Dobbel (born in Holstein, Germany on July 1, 1829; died in Purissima on December 22, 1891) came to California via Cape Horn in 1845. After working at odd jobs, and even running a San Francisco restaurant, Dobbel married fellow German Margaret Roverkamf-Schroeder (born near Hanover, Germany, in 1831; died in Purissima on September 3, 1885). She had come to California via the Isthmus of Panama. They bought a farm in the East Bay. In the 1860s, they sold their farm and bought 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) from John Purcell. They built a big, ornate house on the south bank of Purisima Creek. The house had two stories and 17 rooms; it boasted such innovations as gaslighting and running water. Dobbel employed 50 men who planted and harvested wheat, barley, and potatoes.

Pylema, CA

County: Kern
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Pylema is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the stage line 10 miles (16 km) south-southwest of Bakersfield.
Remains: A post office operated at Pylema from 1895 to 1905. The name honored Mary R. Pyle, early settler and postmaster.
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Quartzburg, CA

County: Boise
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 43° 57′ 40″ N, 115° 59′ 18″ W
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Time Zone: Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
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Comments: Quartzburg is an unincorporated community in Boise County, in the U.S. state of Idaho.
Remains: Quartzburg was a mining community. A post office was established as Quartzburg in 1874, name changed to Quartzburgh in 1894, and the post closed in 1940.
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Rincon, CA

County: San Diego
Zip Code: 92061
Latitude / Longitude: 33°17’17″N 116°57’29″W
Elevation: 1,030 ft (310 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Rincon is an unincorporated community in San Diego County, California, United States. Its elevation is 1030 ft above sea level. Its coordinates are 33 degrees north, 117 degrees west. Its ZIP code is 92061. The community is located near the Rincon Indian Reservation, from which the name is derived.
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Redrock, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 35°20′43″N 117°58′13″W / 35.34528°N 117.97028°W / 35.34528 -117.97028
Elevation: 277 ft (694 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Redrock is a former settlement in Kern County, California.
Remains: It was located 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Cantil in the Mojave Desert, near present-day Red Rock Canyon State Park (California) at an elevation of 2277 ft (694 m).
Current Status:
Remarks: Redrock still appeared on maps as of 1947.

Reefer City, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 35°00′21″N 118°11′06″W / 35.00583°N 118.18500°W / 35.00583 -118.18500
Elevation: 762 ft (842 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Reefer City is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 3.25 miles (5.2 km) south-southwest of Mojave, at an elevation of 2762 ft (842 m). Reefer City still appeared on maps as late as 1947.
Remains: Reefer City was established in 1933 by a South African mining company after a gold lode was discovered on Mount Soledad. The company purchased refrigerator cars, known colloquially as “reefers”, from the Southern Pacific Railroad to house the miners. After the mine closed in 1942, the community housed military personnel from Edwards Air Force Base until the 1960s. In 1971, Reefer City was purchased and demolished by a salvage company.
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Reilly, CA

County: Inyo
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 36°00′25″N 117°22′08″W / 36.00694°N 117.36889°W / 36.00694 -117.36889
Elevation: 582 ft (787 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Reilly is a former settlement in Inyo County, California. It was located on the west side of the Panamint Valley, at an elevation of 2582 ft (787 m). Reilly was a silver mining community in the late 19th century. A post office operated at Reilly in 1883. Reilly is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Reservoir, CA

County: Kern
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Comments: Reservoir is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located on the Southern Pacific Railroad 1 mile (1.6 km) south-southeast of Fram.
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Rice, CA

County: San Bernardino
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 34°5′1″N 114°50′59″W / 34.08361°N 114.84972°W / 34.08361
Elevation: 832 ft (254 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Disestablished:
Comments: Rice, California, formerly named Blythe Junction, is a ghost town in the Rice Valley and the southern tip of the Mojave Desert, and within unincorporated San Bernardino County, southern California.
Remains:
Current Status: The town, located on present-day California State Route 62 between Twentynine Palms and the Colorado River, grew around a Santa Fe Railroad subdivision and siding. The subdivision and siding are still in use but have since changed hands and currently belong to the Arizona and California Railroad, a short line serving southeastern California from Rice to Cadiz, California, and southwestern Arizona at Parker. It was the starting point of the abandoned Ripley Branch that goes through Blythe to Ripley, California.
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Ridleys Ferry, CA

County: Mariposa
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Disestablished:
Comments: Ridleys Ferry, later Benton Mills, is a former settlement in Mariposa County, California. It was located on the south bank of the Merced River, opposite the settlement of Bagby.
Remains: It was on the Rancho Las Mariposas, an 1844 Mexican land grant acquired in 1847 by John C. Frémont. During the California Gold Rush Frémont built a stamp mill at Ridleys Ferry and renamed it Benton Mills in honor of his father-in-law Senator Thomas Hart Benton.
Current Status:
Remarks: Thomas E. Ridley operated a ferry across the Merced River at the site from 1850 to 1852. The settlement endured during the 1850s and 1860s.

Rincon, CA

County:
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Rio Bravo, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 35°23’53″N 119°17’27″W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Rio Bravo is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located on the Southern Pacific Railroad 7.25 miles (12 km) south of Shafter, at an elevation of 318 ft (97 m).
Remains: A post office operated at Rio Bravo from 1912 to 1919.
Current Status:
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Riverview, CA

County: Fresno
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 36°51’07″N 119°51’26″W
Elevation: 249 ft (76 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Riverview is a former settlement in Fresno County, California. It lay at an elevation of 249 ft (76 m). It still appeared on maps as of 1923.
Remains:
Current Status:
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Roachville, CA

County: Inyo
Zip Code:
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Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
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Disestablished:
Comments: Roachville is a former small mining settlement, now in Inyo County, California. It was founded in 1861 on the east slope of the White Mountains, at the lower reaches of Cottonwood Creek northwest of White Mountain City.
Remains: Roachville and White Mountain City, settlements east of the White Mountains from Owens Valley, were used for a California election fraud in the fall of 1861. The Warm Springs precinct covering these sparsely populated settlements was populated with an additional 521 voters culled from the passenger list of a steamship that had recently arrived in San Francisco.
Current Status: The site of Roachville is on Cottonwood Creek, northeast of White Mountain City near the Mono County, California border.
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Rock Springs, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 35°25′19″N 118°44′33″W / 35.42194°N 118.74250°W / 35.42194 -118.74250
Elevation: 280 ft (695 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Rock Springs is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 0.5 miles (0.8 km) south-southeast of Mount Adelaide, at an elevation of 2280 ft (695 m). Rock Springs still appeared on maps as of 1914.
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Rogersville, CA

County: Kern
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude:
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Rogersville is a former settlement in Kern County, California. It was located 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Kernville. The place was named for Lovely Rogers who discovered gold nearby in 1861.
Remains:
Current Status:
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How Many Ghost Towns Are In California?

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