Calaveras County
California
Calaveras County. Organized in 1850 Bounded on
the northwest by Amador, east and southeast by Alpine and
Tuolumne, and on the southeast by Stanislaus and west by San
Joaquin. Area, 936 square miles. Assessed valuation of property
for 1874, $l,656,331.
County seat. San Andreas. Principal towns,
Angels Camp, Campo Seco, Chinese Camp, Copperopolis, Milton,
Mokelumne Hill, Murphy's, Vallecito, and West Point. The largest
streams are the Mokelumne on the northern border, the Calaveras
in the interior, and the Stanislaus on the southern border.
Its resources are mineral and agricultural, aided by the grand
forests of the mountains. The "Big
Trees of Calaveras" have obtained a world-wide renown. On a
high ridge in the eastern portion of the county is a grove of
103 trees, several exceeding thirty feet in diameter, of
proportional height, and stand as the most majestic monuments of
the vegetable kingdom the earth has produced.
The
copper mines of Copperopolis were formerly worked with great
profit, the Union mine being considered one of the richest of
that metal known. The decline in the prices of copper, together
with the high rates of working expenses, is the cause of the
decline in that interest.
Gold mining is carried on with increasing energy, the many rich
quartz lodes and the deep channels of ancient glacial drift
giving unlimited fields for the most extensive operations. The
vast deposits of auriferous gravel are melting away before the
hydraulic, proving remunerative to the miner and encouraging to
every interest.
The agricultural and horticultural resources are also great, the
county affording grazing for art large number of sheep and
goats, and many flourishing vineyards and orchards of every
variety of fruit are found.
Stage communication is had from various points with Stockton and
Sacramento. The
Stockton and Copperopolis Railroad, originally intended for
the transportation of copper ore, was only completed as far as
Milton, in the western portion of the county, to which point it
continues in successful operation.
Officers: William B. Norman, County Judge;
Jubal A. Foster, Clerk, Recorder and Auditor; William T. Lewis,
District Attorney; Benjamin K. Thorn, Sheriff and Tax Collector;
John Gallagher, Treasurer; William J. R. Robertson, Assessor; A.
E. Wheat, Surveyor; H. G. Allen, Coroner and Public
Administrator; J. B. Garvey, Superintendent Public Schools.
California Gazetteer |
AHGP California
Source: Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1876-78, Compiled
by Henry G. Langley, San Francisco, 1875
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