COULTERVILLE
Mariposa Co., CA
AKA
Bandarita, Bandereta
Matsell’s Creek,
Maxwell’s
Creek, Maxwellville
(CHL #332)
elevation 1683’
Coulterville
is a still active, wonderful old Class E
mining town still supporting a number of businesses. It is listed in this work because of its
major impact to the county. It is
located in the oak-studded, roly-poly hills at the junction of SH 49/132, about
28 miles northwest of Mariposa, and a few miles northeast of
In 1849, placer mining supported a budding
town. Then, in early 1850, George W. COULTER and George MAXWELL established a small tent store at this
location to supply miners working the placers in Black, Boneyard
and
A
store owned by Stephen DAVIS who operated it from May
1852 through April 1854.
The BARRETT Blacksmith Shop operated in the early
1850s.
The original name for the community is said
to have been Bandarita, (which is Spanish for flag)
for the flag COULTER
flew from his store, but according to GUDDE in CGC: “No contemporary evidence could be found for
the often repeated story that the place was first called Bandereta.”
In 1852 discovery of the Malvina and Mary Harrison Mines caused the small community
to grow. When the post office was
established in 1853, it was called
In January 1862 the major floods that
heavily damaged most of
The
historic marker is located in town at the northeast corner of SH 49/132 in the
shade of the huge tree out front of the
Like many other Gold
Rush towns, fire was a major re-maker of the town. In July 1879, a major fire leveled half of
the town.
From
an unidentified 1879 newspaper clipping.
Destructive Conflagration- One Half of Coulterville
Burned to the Ground.
“On Wednesday last, about 10 o'clock a.m. occurred one of the most
destructive fires in Coulterville that has ever been the misfortune of that
beautiful mining town to meet with. The fire broke out in the dwelling occupied
by Mr. J.W. REED and family, situated on the southerly end of the main street
leading north through the principle business portion of the town, and adjoining
on the south the old City Hotel, formerly owned and occupied by Mr.
George COUNTS and family, who at present reside in this place.
“Mr. George W. COULTER, to whom we are indebted for the particulars concerning the fire
given us early on Thursday morning last, the next day succeeding the fire,
says: The fire was first discovered in a bed room of the house, and everything
being of an inflammable nature, it must have got beyond control before it was
discovered by the inmates. There were quite a number of children about the
house, which makes it quite possible that matches where being tampered with
that caused the destructive fire which so rapidly followed its outbreak. The
alarm was scarcely given before the dwelling was wrapped in flames, which with
the assistance of a southerly breeze was rapidly carried to the Old
City Hotel, a large two story wood building, and in less time than
it takes to describe it this massive wood structure was fast yielding to the
fire fiend.
“The hotel was untenanted, but used as a lumber depot, in which a
large amount was stored and materially added strength to the venomous fire,
that raged fearfully, vomiting forth fire and black smoke which ascended to so
great a height that it was plainly observed by the inhabitants of Bear
Valley, about twelve miles distant.
“The next building in the pathway of the merciless destroyer was the
warehouse of Francisco BRUSCHI, which was soon destroyed with all its contents. Following this was
HARLOW’S
blacksmith shop; from thence to the PENDOLA property, comprising dwelling houses, barns and other buildings,
all of which were speedily reduced to ashes. The building known as the PENDOLA
Store was not burned. Total destruction of all that portion
of the town lying on the east side of
“The fire swept on. The store and dwelling place of Mr. Frank CUNEO and family were entirely consumed. To all appearances the fire at
this point ought to have ceased its rage, but it did not. With the assistance
of the wind it jumped for some distance to the old dwelling house formerly
known as the GOODWIN residence. From that point the fire shaped its course
easterly and crossed the street bordering up on Maxwell's creek, and consumed
the residence of John R. COLLINS and family, and the carpentry
shop of George EGGETT. From thence it crossed
Maxwell's creek and was rapidly pursuing
its way in a northerly direction up the east branch of Maxwell's creek towards
the farm and ranches of James LINDSEY and Patrick DIEGNANS, which were at the time our
informant left, considered to be in immanent danger. These ranches are two
miles above Coulterville, and the fire was within one mile and advancing
rapidly. There were seven families made sufferers by the fire, vis: Jonathan MENTZER, John C. RIHN, A. TISCORNIA, Frank CUNEO, John R. COLLINS and J.W. REED.
“At this writing we have no means of knowing the amount of loses
sustained or who had any insurance upon their property. It is thought that MENTZER, RIHN and DEBOLT each were partially insured.”
In 1899, another fire
damaged the town, and it was after this fire that a lost treasure legend
began. After the fire, the ruins of
several gutted adobe buildings was used to patch holes in the streets of
town. The owner of one of the buildings
had apparently secreted some gold coins in a wall, and when the adobe patches
were washed by rain, some of the gold coins appeared, creating a mini-gold
rush.
Some of the historic old buildings still
remaining include:
BRUSCHI
Stores: There were two stores operated by
Francisco BRUSCHI. One was made of rock, the other of imported
bricks. PHOTO!
BRUSCHI
Warehouse: Slabbed
schist walls with one fired-adobe wall support this building which in 1949
housed the Coulterville Fire Department.
CANOVA
STORE & Warehouse: The store dates
to the 1860s, and the warehouse to 1870.
COULTER
Hotel: The roofless, flat schist slab
walls and soapstone-fronted hotel is the focal point of the old town and sits
on the northwest side of the road junction.
PHOTO!
IOOF Hall:
PHOTO!
Jail: Built of soapstone blocks.
JEFFERY
Hotel: This three-story wood frame, stone and adobe hotel on the northeast
corner of the main junction of town was a AAA-rated place to stay until fairly
recently. It was closed briefly in 2002,
but as of October 2003 is still open. It
was built in 1851. PHOTO!
Knights of Pythias Hall/General store: This two-story building house both a Knights
of Pythias Hall (above) and a general store
(below). The upper floor is wood, and a
large white balcony extends out the front of the building.
Old oak tree and
“Whistling Billy” stand in front of the Coulter Hotel,
Sun Sun WO Store:
This c1851 Chinese store was made of adobe with a corrugated tin
roof. It still stands at the upper east
end of town in what used to be the heart of Coulterville’s “
WAGONER’s Store:
Wells Fargo &
Company Express office: Built of brick in 1856, this building now
houses the
Coulterviulle
bottomed out in the 1970s, but as California grew and the rural Motherlode communities began to attract urban refugees, it
also began to grow.
Other photos
include:
Coulterville General Store: PHOTO!
“Memories”: PHOTO!
“The Boardwalk”: PHOTO!
The Heart of Coulterville: PHOTO!
Population figures:
·
1930 - 380
·
1970 - 180
·
1980 - 500
·
1990 - 650
·
2000 - 1772
LOCATION:
·
S½ Sec 34, T2S, R16E, MDM
·
N½ Sec 3, T3S, R16E, MDM
·
Latitude: 37.7104860 / 37° 30' 08" N,
·
Longitude: -120.1979658 / 120° 14' 18" W
The
Coulterville Mining District stretched about ten miles along the Mother Lode
Gold Belt, from the McAlpine Mine (just over the
county line in Tuolumne Co.), south to the Virginia Mine. The mines were worked through 1942 when they
closed for the war. In the 1950s and
1960s, some exploratory work occurred in some of the mines.
Some
of the mines located in the Coulterville Mining District
included:
·
ORO RICO MINE …SEE
Peñon Blanco Mine
SOURCES: #1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, WPA
This was our
Ghost Town of the Month for April 2011
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Mariposa Co., CA Index Page
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First
Posted: December 10, 2001
Last Updated:
August 09, 2011
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