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Calaveras County Communities

Visiting Calaveras County Communities

Calaveras County communities might just surprise you. Calaveras County nestles into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and is in the heart of Northern California's Gold Country.

You couldn't be blamed for expecting its cities, towns, and villages to reflect that! And you'd be right - this is mining country and Calaveras County is rich in minerals!

Most people think of gold when they think of California and mining, but you might be surprised to learn that gold is not the only precious metal mined in Calaveras.

There's also silver, copper, chrome, and platinum. In addition, prospectors have found gemstones, asbestos, clay, limestone, marble, pyrite, and quartz crystals in quantities to make them worth the effort and expense involved in their removal.

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Seven Calaveras County Communities

• Avery is home to the Avery Hotel Restaurant and Saloon, built in 1853. The hotel was once known as the Halfway House.
• Copperopolis might seem like a very strange name, but it came about because the founders discovered copper instead of gold in the area. It also has a dual personality - see The Dichotomy of Copperopolis.

• Dorrington's claim to fame is as a stopping off place between Murphys and Ebbetts Pass, and as a resort town for people visiting Calaveras Big Trees.
• Forest Meadows is a gated community with a golf course, vacation rentals, parks, and hiking/riding trails.
• Glencoe - once called Mosquito Gulch - is an old mining town that is registered an a California Historical Landmark.
• Moke Hill, as it's referred to by the locals is officially Mokelumne (Moke-eh-loo-mee) Hill and was named after the Mokelumne River. The area of Mokelumne Hill was one of the richest gold mining sites in all of California.

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More Calaveras County Communities

• A California Historical Landmark, Mountain Ranch has moved around a bit in its long history and has somehow accumulated three post office buildings.
• Dubbed One of the Top 10 Coolest Small Towns in America by Frommers, Murphy's is home to Ironstone Vineyards and Winery, the Murphys Hotel, and Mercer Caverns.
• Rail Road Flat isn't named for an actual railroad - it never had one - but for the mule-drawn cars used to transport ore.
• Rancho Calaveras is located in the Valley Springs area of western Calaveras County, off State Route 26.
• You might be tempted to assume that San Andreas has something to do with or is somewhere near the San Andreas fault, but it was founded by Mexican gold miners and named after St. Andrew parish.
• Oddly enough, given the previous paragraph, Sheep Ranch was in fact named for a sheep ranch! In fact, it's still a free-range area and there are hundreds of sheep that roam freely throughout the town.
• Vallecito - which means Little Valley in Spanish - was formerly called Murphys Old Diggings (the town of Murphys was originally known as Murphys New Diggings) - and is home to Moaning Cavern.
• Part of Western Calaveras County, Valley Springs is surrounded by three beautiful lakes. The home of founders George and Rebecca Late - built from locally quarried limestone - is still in excellent condition.
• Wallace is in the far Northwest corner of Calaveras County and was named after John Wallace - not the son, according to historian Sal Manna, but the father.
• Another Gold Rush era California Historical Landmark, West Point, CA was named for scout Kit Carson's former camp, which was located in the area.

Do you have a favorite NorCal story?
From a family visit from years ago to something
you discovered last weekend,
Share it with the rest of us - we'd love to learn about it!

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We'll have more to share with you about Calaveras County Communities in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please explore these Calaveras County pages:

• Calaveras County
  When I say Calaveras, what leaps to mind?
• Calaveras County Attractions
  More than just Gold Rush history and Jumping Frogs!
• Dichotomy of Copperopolis
  Old vs new, faux vs real!

Please continue your exploration of what Northern California has to offer by using the Nav Bars in the left and right columns or by using the links at the bottom of the page.

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Calaveras County Communities