Camptonville, California
| Camptonville, California | |
|---|---|
| Census-designated place | |
 Camptonville
|
|
| Coordinates: 39°27′07″N 121°02′55″W / 39.45194°N 121.04861°WCoordinates: 39°27′07″N 121°02′55″W / 39.45194°N 121.04861°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 California
|
| County | Yuba County |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.874 sq mi (2.263 km2) |
| • Land | 0.874 sq mi (2.263 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) 0% |
| Elevation | 2,825 ft (861 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 158 |
| • Density | 180/sq mi (70/km2) |
| Time zone | Pacific (PST) (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| GNIS feature IDs | 1658208; 2628715 |
| U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Camptonville, California; U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Camptonville, California | |
Camptonville (formerly, Comptonville and Gold Ridge) is a small town and census-designated place (CDP) located in northeastern Yuba County, California. The town is located 36 miles (58 km) northeast of Marysville, off Highway 49 between Downieville and Nevada City. It is located on a ridge between the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Yuba River, not far from New Bullards Bar Dam Reservoir. Camptonville lies at an elevation of 2825 feet (861 m). The population was 158 at the 2010 census.
Gold was discovered here in 1850, and the place became known as Gold Ridge. The name was changed to Camptonville in 1854 when the first post office opened. The name honors Robert Campton, the town blacksmith.
It was a significant community in the California Gold Rush era and a stopping point for travelers and freight haulers along Henness Pass Road, a major route over the Sierra Nevada via Henness Pass in the 1850s and 1860s. A plaque in Camptonville says the roaring town had over fifty saloons had brothels and even a bowling alley at one time. However, by 1863 William H. Brewer passed through Camptonville and described it in his journal as follows:
September 10 we started on our way--first to Nevada [City], a few miles, a fine town in a rich mining region, then to San Juan North (there are several other San Juans in the state), then to Camptonville, a miserable, dilapidated town, but very picturesquely located, with immense hydraulic diggings about. The amount of soil sluiced away in this way seems incredible. Bluffs sixty to a hundred feet thick have been washed away for hundreds of acres together. But they were not rich, the gold has “stopped,” the town is dilapidated--but we had to pay big prices nevertheless.
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