Blue Mountain City is a former settlement in Calaveras County, California,[1] along Licking Fork, approximately 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Mountain Ranch.[2] The town was built on a flat bench of land above the mining camp which perched on a steep canyon slope on the west side of Licking Fork, just over a mile downstream from the headwaters.[3] The town was first announced in January, 1863.[4] The Heckendorn Gold and Silver Mining Company was organized by July, with C. C. Bowman as its secretary.[5] A post office operated in Blue Mountain from 1863 to 1864.[2][6][7][8]

Blue Mountain is also the name of a mining district located 10 miles southeast of West Point, California that includes the Black Wonder, Gold King and Heckendorn mines.[9]

References

  1. ^ "A Deserted Mining Camp". Stockton Daily Evening Record. September 11, 1895. p. 4. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 806. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  3. ^ The Editor (October 1992). "Blue Mountain City, Forgotten Boom Town" (PDF). Las Calaveras. XL (1): 5–9. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024 – via Historical Calaveras.
  4. ^ "A New Mining Town". The Stockton Independent. The California Digital Newspaper Collection. February 17, 1863. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  5. ^ "Mining Notices". Daily Alta California, Mining Supplement. California Digital Newspaper Collection. July 17, 1863. Page one, top of right-hand column. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  6. ^ Gudde, Erwin G. (2009). California Gold Camps: A Geographical and Historical Dictionary of Camps, Towns, and Localities Where Gold Was Found and Mined; Wayside Stations and Trading Centers. Univ of California Press. p. 41. ISBN 9780520261440. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  7. ^ "Post Office Department, Appointment Office". The National Archives and Records Administration. June 17, 1863. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  8. ^ "Blue Mountain City is situated in the Nevadas". The National Records and Archive Administration. June 17, 1863. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  9. ^ Clark, William B. (1998). "Gold Districts of California". California Agencies. Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology: 31. Retrieved October 21, 2020.

Further reading

38°22′56″N 120°21′19″W / 38.3822°N 120.3552°W / 38.3822; -120.3552

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