|
|
Hornitos is a bit off the beaten path, being off of California State Route 49
about 15 miles west of Mariposa in Mariposa County. My map labels the highway it's on as
"J16."
According to Carter, Hornitos was one of the rowdiest of the early "whoopee"
towns, being frequented by outlaw Joaquin Murrieta. It was founded by
Sonorans, and their influence is seen in the Mexican-style plaza with buildings
clustered around it shown in the lower set of photos. |
|
 |
|
This photo of the Catholic Church in Hornitos appears on
page 221 in Florin's book (1971). Note the stone buttresses. |
| |
|
 |
|
This photo of the church was taken by me on April 11, 1993.
That's my rental Dodge Dynasty that you can just see the front of at left. |
| |
|
 |
|
Close-up view of the church taken by me. |
| |
|
 |
|
This photo was taken from behind the church. |
|
 |
|
This photo of a Mexican-style plaza appears on page 220 of
Florin's book. It was built in 1851. The left end was a saloon.
The right end, which was not identified in Florin's book, was a saddle shop
according to a fellow (Henning Olesen of Denmark, who worked in central
California in the late 1950s) who saw this website and contacted me. |
| |
|
 |
|
Here is another photo of these structures taken in the late
1950s by Henning Olesen of Denmark |
| |
|
 |
|
This photo of a street in Hornitos just catches, along the
left side, the plaza
building shown in the photo above. Photo taken April 11, 1993. |
| |
|
 |
|
This photo of several Hornitos buildings, including the General
Merchandise store, appears on page 60 of
Carter's book (1971). |
| |
|
 |
|
This photo of the General Merchandise store was sent in by
Henning Olesen of Denmark. He worked in this area of California in the
late 1950s, which is when this photo was taken. |
| On August 16, 2009,
I received an email from someone with more to add about Hornitos:
I just happened onto your webpage by
accident as I was searching for history of California saddle
makers. "Saddle maker" was mentioned on your Hornitos page as
having been possibly at the far end of the Mexican style plaza,
so your webpage came up in my search.
Because I live in Mariposa County,
the Hornitos page caught my eye, but I wondered why there was no
mention or picture of what once was the Ghirardelli Store. I
have always found that to be an amazing fact that Ghirardelli
had a building in of all places, "Hornitos". So I then searched
for Ghirardelli in connection with Hornitos. I do not think
there is anyone today who is not familiar with either
Ghirardelli chocolates or Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco,
California and might find it interesting that maybe there was
more to Hornitos than meets the eye.
Below are links I hope you enjoy as
much as I did . You started me down a rabbit trail with
Western Ghost Towns, specifically
Hornitos. You read
one thing and questions pop up and then research the next and
then the next.
After reading
your Hornitos page, I started looking for the Ghirardelli
connection in Hornitos found Domenico Ghirardelli, his life and
how he started, failed, moved on and started again after
difficulties with his business and still he prevailed. I am sure he
had not idea at how big the name Ghirardelli would become because of
his efforts. Pretty interesting.
This link is about
D. Ghirardelli http://www.ghirardelli.com/about/history.aspx
More Hornitos Facts
Hornitos ~ [Spanish:
Little Ovens] It was thus named for the oven-shaped
Mexican graves found there. This
town was formed by Mexican outcasts from Quartzburg, which is
all but gone and forgotten now, while Hornitos is one of
the best
preserved ghost towns in Gold Country.
Joaquin Murieta supposedly stayed
here. The remains of the 1855 Ghirardelli building are here,
once owned by the
Ghirardelli's of chocolate fame in San Francisco.
http://comspark.com/chronicles/mariposa.shtml
Being a resident of Mariposa
County for many years I have heard the stories of Juaquin
Murrieta, rumors, even my husbands father an old timer who has
now passed on, says that Juaquin Murrieta and gang stayed in
their old barn (possibly when husbands grandfather was alive).
It made for an interesting family story, but I never looked
further.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_Murrieta
I was amazed with the extent of outlaw his
reputation to find that he was only 24 years old when he was
supposedly killed by the newly formed California State Rangers.
Gruesome as it sounds, the jar was displayed in
Mariposa County,
Stockton, and
San Francisco, and later traveled throughout California;
spectators could pay $1 see the remains ( however numerous
sightings of Murrieta were reported after his death supposedly
took place). The preserved head was destroyed in the
1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
So by searching
the web for a saddle maker, I stumbled across your site which
mentioned Hornitos. And went from Hornitos to Ghiradelli and
from Ghiradelli to the short but infamous life of Juaquin
Muerietta.
That is quite a
stretch.
But as an end,
(info you probably already know) below I have listed two modern
day annual events that take place in Hornitos.
The Enchilada
Dinner draws people from all over the county and you can count
on standing in line as there will be a crowd, rain or shine.
The second is the
annual Hornitos Flea Market.
After the two
events, Hornitos is given back to the ghost's and the few
residents who still call it home.
But to
most, modern day Hornitos is forgotten until the next year.
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
PRESENT DAY HORNITOS
Looks
like the "Wild West" has been tamed
Hornitos Patrons Club Annual Enchilada
Dinner
. Golden Stag Hall, Hornitos, CA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Events
Calendar
Event
-
Title: 23rd annual Hornitos Flea Market
- When:
10/04/2009 7:00 h - 4:00 h
-
Where:
Hornitos Park
- Hornitos
-
Category:
Consumer Shows
Description
Treasures, fleas galore, and a whole lot more.
Explore
historic Hornitos and discover some items you thought you'd
never find.
Venue
-
Venue:
Hornitos Park
- City:
Hornitos
-
State: CA
|
|