Hornitos - California Ghost Town

HORNITOS

NAME: Hornitos
COUNTY: Mariposa
ROADS: 2WD
GRID #(see map): 3
CLIMATE: Warm winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime.

COMMENTS: Just west of Mariposa, Semi-ghost.
REMAINS: Many original buildings.

Not born from the gold rush of '49, Hornitos was a strictly Mexican village built as if it had been transplanted from Mexico. But the town was never the same after it was invaded by the "undesirables" from neighboring mining camps. However, as the gold began to give out along the Mother Lode, the town started to return to its original form with the demand for law and order. The name of the infamous Mexican bandit, Joaquin Murieta, is still associated with Hornitos as he was almost captured there in the early 1850s, but escaped. Fortunately, much of the town can still be seen as it was during the days of the gold rush. It is located of off and west of highway 49 and west of Mariposa. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth. The town was founded by Mexicans who were run out of neighboring town of Quartzburg for the crime of being Mexicans. In its heyday Hornitos was a wide-open camp whose streets were lined with fandango halls, bars, and gambling dens. Today Hornitos lives on as one of the best preserved ghost towns in the Mother Lode with the ruins of the old Wells Fargo office, the stone Masonic Hall, the jailhouse, the store where the firm of D. Ghirardelli got its start in the 1850s and others. St. Catherine Catholic Church -- 1862 -- Built of wood buttressed with stone - corrugated metal roof. Courtesy Dolores Steele St. Catherine cemetery Courtesy Dolores Steele Marker -- William --- born - June 1868 - died - Nov. 1870 Mary ---- born - March 1864 - died - Aug. 1865 Courtesy Dolores Steele Cemetery Courtesy Dolores Steele School -- 1880 Courtesy Dolores Steele	Jail -- Granite walls 2 feet thick Courtesy Dolores Steele Post Office Courtesy Dolores Steele Store and Gasoline Courtesy Dolores Steele The Ghirardelli Store -- 1859 -- was operated by D. Ghirardelli & Co. -the well-known chocolate maker of San Francisco. Courtesy Dolores Steele Hornitos Courtesy Dolores Steele Hornitos Courtesy Dolores Steele Hornitos Courtesy Dolores Steele Wells Fargo -- 1854 Courtesy Dolores Steele Ghirardelli Chocolate Plaque Courtesy Alexander Buntin

Not born from the gold rush of '49, Hornitos was a strictly Mexican village built as if it had been transplanted from Mexico. But the town was never the same after it was invaded by the "undesirables" from neighboring mining camps. However, as the gold began to give out along the Mother Lode, the town started to return to its original form with the demand for law and order. The name of the infamous Mexican bandit, Joaquin Murieta, is still associated with Hornitos as he was almost captured there in the early 1850s, but escaped. Fortunately, much of the town can still be seen as it was during the days of the gold rush. It is located of off and west of highway 49 and west of Mariposa. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.

The town was founded by Mexicans who were run out of neighboring town of Quartzburg for the crime of being Mexicans. In its heyday Hornitos was a wide-open camp whose streets were lined with fandango halls, bars, and gambling dens. Today Hornitos lives on as one of the best preserved ghost towns in the Mother Lode with the ruins of the old Wells Fargo office, the stone Masonic Hall, the jailhouse, the store where the firm of D. Ghirardelli got its start in the 1850s and others.