MOUNT OPHIR

NAME: Mount Ophir
COUNTY: Mariposa
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 1
CLIMATE: Warm summer cool in winter
BEST TIME TO VISIT: All year round 		COMMENTS: No current residents.Located on the old highway that parallels the present highway 49 about 5 miles north of mount bullion.
REMAINS: the Trabucco store ruins the Moffatt mint ruins,and several foundations and wells.

Mount Ophir was the site of the first private mint in california.The mint was built in 1851 by John Moffat who had been appointed to the office of United States Assayer for California by President Tyler.The Mount Ophir Mint turned out hexagonal gold slugs of fifty-dollar denomination.Louis Trabucco also had a well-established trading post there.It was well patronized by miners and packers.Next to the old Trabucco store once stood a large two-store frame hotel built some time after the stone store.Mount Ophir during the early 1850s was a large camp,and stores and tents straggled along the main road for quite a distance. Submitted by: Chris Geigle


Miners Working at Mt Ophir
Courtesy Chris Geigle


Mount Ophir
Courtesy Chris Geigle


Mount Ophir $50 Gold Slug
Courtesy Chris Geigle


Mount Ophir in 1854
Courtesy Chris Geigle


Moffat Mint Ruins
Courtesy Chris Geigle


Mount Ophir
Courtesy Chris Geigle


Trabucco Store Ruins
Courtesy Chris Geigle


Mount Ophir Mill in 1854
Courtesy Chris Geigle

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