Coulterville

The state marked this corner twice and threw away the detail. The wooden board names the flag over Coulter's tent that gave the camp its first name, Banderita; the post office that called the place Maxwell Creek in 1853; Andrew Goss and the first stamp mill; the two Newfoundland dogs that pumped water for the hotel; and the Bruschi family, who kept the town's leading stores for eighty years. The 1959 bronze standing beside it says Coulter served the miners as merchant and hotel proprietor and that the town became the business capital of the area.

What the plaque says

Coulterville George W. Coulter started a tent store here, early in 1850, to supply hundreds of miners working the rich placers of Maxwell, Boneyard and Black Creeks. The settlement was called Banderita, from the flag flying over Coulters store. A postoffice established in 1853 was called Maxwell Creek, but changed the following year to honor Coulter. The first stamp mill for crushing quartz ore was built by Andrew Goss. Quartz mines, nearby, under crude methods, with wood for fuel, operated for years producing millions. Coulter built the first hotel and water for it was pumped from a well by two Newfoundland dogs. Francisco Bruschi erected the first permanent building and his family became leading merchants for over eighty years. Coulterville While miners worked nearby streams and veins for gold, George W. Coulter served their needs as merchant and hotel proprietor. His first store, established in 1850, was a tent stocked with merchandise hauled in by pack train. Coulter and the town which bears his name prospered, as Coulterville became the business and social capital of this area. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 332 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the Mariposa County Recreation and Parks Commission and the Mariposa County Historical Society, June 6, 1959.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 26 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Second Garrote — 7.8 mi
• Big Oak Flat — 8.4 mi
• Groveland — 9.0 mi
• Bear Valley — 11 mi