Driving along the secondary roads of Northern California to the base of the Sierras is like taking an inter-active lesson in history.
One horse towns like Groveland, Mariposa, La Grange, and Coulterville are proud of their heritage. They rise out of the foothills in stark contrast to their surroundings. Isolated, full of character, charm, and personality.
The buildings that line Main Street, every town has a Main Street, date back to sometime in the mid to late 19th century. Saloons and courthouses, I imagine the two saw a lot of the same customers, proudly display signs and placards declaring established dates and other historical information.
It seems there is more than one bar that is the oldest in the west.
Traveling west from San Francisco to Yosemite’s northern entrance takes about 4 hours if you do it one shot. However stopping along the way and smelling the roses is all part of the journey.
You are in cattle country.
We had a steak for breakfast. It was huge. At least 12 inches long, encased in garlic bread, and named in honor of the Cowboys that rode these parts more than a century earlier.
The Char-broiled Cowboy Steak Sandwich.
Next door was the Cowboy Museum that paid further homage to these early Californian trailblazers.
Groveland is the next town.
Well that’s not entirely true. China Camp is next but it’s solitary store was closed that day and to be honest if the intersection upon which China Camp was built had not displayed a sign, we would never have known we were there.
Groveland on the other hand was a regular gold rush metropolis. Main Street cut through
the center of town and shops, cafes, and bars line both sides. Within 10 feet you could
immerse yourself in California gold rush history with a beer and ranch grub while
sitting yourself down in the genuine article; a saloon that opened its doors in 1852 and continues to serve patrons today.
Or you can sip a half macchiato, half espresso at the Firefall Roasting Company next door.
Groveland, and Mariposa, have stayed alive and well because they have adapted to change. These towns have gone from housing prospectors to housing travelers who, for the most part, are simply passing though on their way to Yosemite.
Coulterville is a whole different type of town. Just as historic as the others but by no means a tourist destination. More a throwback in real time to another era and clearly proud of two facts; it’s heritage and it’s non-commercial persona.
Coulterville, unlike Groveland and Mariposa, allows the traveler a realistic glimpse back. A look at how life may have been. In fact Coulterville only recently declared itself to be more than just another ghost town, lost on the roadside, fading away.
Coulterville, like the others has a Main Street. Unlike the others however it also has a Kow Street and a Chinese Main Street.
Part of Coulterville was once sectioned off and became the home for a large population of Chinese workers. They had an extensive community; population in the thousands with businesses to cater. Today only the general store remains. It is now an historic landmark. One of the oldest surviving adobe structures in the west.
In the central part of town you could let your imagination go wild. It is not a far stretch
to imagine gunslingers in the street below the hotel windows where saloon girls would
ply their trade. Even the building eaves are weather warped and whisper of gunfights,
cattle rustling, and drunken gold miners flush with the weeks takings or broke but in the
same state of inebriation.
At least that’s what the building eaves told me.
Any western, movie or TV show, you’ve ever seen could have been played out here in Coulterville. You can hear boots on wooden sidewalks and the theme to “High Plains Drifter” whistling in the background.
Next to the Hotel Jeffrey, built in 1851, is a beautiful old tree; grand and possessed of self-importance. It’s known as the “Hang Tree”. It was from the sturdy branches that legal hangings took place. A grizzly reminder of past retribution.
The doors of the general store burst open.
Out walked a women. As tough and burly as you would expect in this town of isolated lawlessness. Her furry black house slippers, well worn beige night gown, calf-skin stetson, and half smoked cigar leaving you with no doubt that had this been a century earlier she would have been Miss Kitty, saloon proprietor. Quick on the draw and tough as nails. She would have shot your ear off if you looked at her the wrong way.
To be honest I cannot say for sure if this is still not the case.
La Grange is even smaller; population 345. As you travel down the Rte 132 you come to a bend in the road; that’s La Grange. General store, saloon, jail, school, church and museum; open only 3 hours a week.
Unlike all the other towns La Grange was settled by the French. A boom town with thousands of residents and known for its lack of respect for authority. Gold mines popped up all along the Toulomne River and by 1854 over 100 buildings formed the town center. In 1856 La Grange became the county seat.
In 1880 the tumbleweed blew in and all mining came to an abrupt end.
There are more towns scattered around Northern California that command interest and the use of imagination. They represent an important time in history and have all been preserved in one way or another.
Passing through these towns, stopping, reading the information, and soaking in a bygone era, makes any road trip through these parts a journey in time travel.
Flat Tires and Slow Boats 
A garlic steak sandwich for breakfast- that’s quite the feed! Really interesting post. I drove from San Fran to Yosemite with my family years ago, we stopped off at Tahoe but I don’t remember seeing any towns like you have described, I missed out!
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These towns are all off the main road and you would have to decide to go rouge a little in order to run into them but they are definitely there. As for the steak garlic sandwich, it is not an everyday breakfast that’s for sure.
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I love the history that some small towns offer. The way you described them seems like you get a glimpse of the past from all of them.
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Some of those buildings look like you stepped into the old west. I always like reading about your travels, and you describe them so well. Thanks, as always, for sharing them with us.
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That’s exactly how I felt when I was there; like a gunfight was about to break out or a saloon brawl was going to bust into the street 🙂
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The secondary/tertiary routes are so much more interesting than the fast but boring main highways. Thanks for sharing these gems from a bygone era.
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Tim always good to read about your travels. This one is truly one of the best in my opinion as you combined travel with history. Some of my best travels have included both.
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Glad you liked it Ed and thanks very much for your comment. I also find that history adds a whole other perspective when traveling.
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This really is like a trip back in time. I love that picture of the general store with all the rusty metal roof plates!
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Loved this post Tim – I am a real sucker for frontier history! I’ll be spending some quality time in Wyoming and Montana this Fall, but first I’ll be visiting for a few days with an old friend in No. California so I’ve made notes about the places you shared in your article to add to my trip planning journal.
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If you enjoy going back in time you will love these towns and the characters that inhabit them.
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I love these old western towns. I am new to the Bay area and to California and have not explored any of these places, nor have I been to Yosemite but in Colorado, there is a rich mining history with old western towns as well, and these, I have explored with vigor.
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I lived in San Francisco for about 10 years and enjoyed exploring the places that you describe. Funny, I now live in Prescott, AZ, which celebrates its wild west beginnings and Whiskey Row is a vital part of our downtown. It’s always fun to visit places that take you back in history.
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I’ve always loved old Western towns, provided that they are somewhat authentic and not manufactured for tourists. I’ve never been to the towns you mentioned in this post but I’m reminded of Idaho Springs, Colo., which was also a gold rush town. I was there last year and, being an urban, east coast kind of guy, was totally shocked when a guy walked into the store I was in with a gun and holster strapped to his hip. What’s more “western” than that?
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I hope there was swinging doors involved.
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Wow, I can’t believe you are in my state (California) this week. Quite a change from Cambodia. Having said that, the places you visited were about as foreign to me as Cambodia. I have never been in the very north parts of California or Yosemite. I didn’t know we had such a time capsule. So fascinating! I totally want to go. Yosemite is on my “to-do” list so I may be driving through any day now.
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I was amazed as well to find these old mining towns and yes, it was a real throw back to the gold rush days.
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Oh my! I want to make that trip now! If nothing else, I want to see that broad with the fuzzy slippers and cigar! Think this will always be one of my favorite trips with you Tim…what a colorful journey and I love that it is steeped in good old cowboy history! House slippers and gold mines, indeed:)
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She really did make my day and was every bit the character I expected to find.
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I always enjoy your photos Tim. I don’t think I have been to Northern California despite the fact I have been to California several times. Thank you for sharing your insight especially emphasizing that this is an important part of our history to acknowledge.
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Tim, it is just so great to travel with you. The way you describe these places makes them come alive and I did see that lady with the slippers and the stetson but I somehow couldn’t see miss Kitty in her ( we are watching old Gunsmoke movies right now so maybe that’s why). I’m looking forward to next week’s adventure.
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Tim, I love this post. I want to visit these towns. I can’t believe I missed these towns when I was in California. You painted a great picture and wrote beautiful descriptive words.
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Thanks Crystal. It was not difficult to let your imagination go wild in these towns…excuse the pun.
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I am a native of San Francisco so we would go to Yosemite alot. I have been to Coulterville and it is like going back in time. We like to go where most tourists don’t go. I remember when we were Arizona and we saw a sign for a town called Christmas. We heard later people went seeking this town so they could get a “Christmas” postmark from the post office.
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When I worked as a tour guide in Italy people would do the same thing at the Vatican post office.
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Love Yosemite and exploring Northern California, since we live in Southern California. There is definitely a feel of the old west north of where we are. My husband and I love to explore the area to which you refer – off the beaten path! We’ve actually been to Coulterville!
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Isn’t Coulterville great. That is the one town that brought me back in time without the fluff of tourism. I am glad you have been there and can relate. I have other posts coming out in the next few days about the continuation of that road trip to Yosemite and it’s surrounds. Thanks Laurie.
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