Historical Marker · No. 255
Calaveritas
Calaveritas, Calaveras County · California
Erected by the California Centennials Commission, with the base furnished by the Calaveras County 20-30 Club, 1950
The name is the small version of the county's own. Calaveras is Spanish for skulls; Calaveritas is the diminutive of it. Mexicans settled the place in 1849 and the bronze lists what they built here: stores, saloons and fandango halls, with the gambling houses named separately in the sentence that follows. Fire took all of it in 1858 and the town never really came back. Both the register and HMdb move those gambling houses into the wrong list.
What the plaque says
CALAVERITAS CALAVERITAS, SETTLED IN 1849 BY MEXICANS, WAS A FLOURISHING MINING TOWN WITH STORES, SALOONS AND FANDANGO HALLS. JOAQUIN MURIETA IS REPORTED TO HAVE FREQUENTLY VISITED ITS FANDANGO HALLS AND GAMBLING HOUSES. DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1858. STATE REGISTERED LANDMARK NO. 255 MARKER PLACED BY CALIFORNIA CENTENNIALS COMMISSION. BASE FURNISHED BY CALAVERAS COUNTY 20-30 CLUB DEDICATED JUNE 18, 1950
Where it stands
38.15795, -120.61235 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Columbia State Historic Park — 14 miThe Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.
More markers nearby
- Fourth Crossing — 2.2 mi
- San Andreas — 4.6 mi
- Altaville Grammar School — 5.8 mi
- Pioneer Cemetery — 6.2 mi