Mormon Bar

Almost no plaque reports an election. This one gives two. The 1860 returns from Mormon Bar, it says, put the secession candidates over the union candidates 21 votes to 17, and in 1864 eleven men in the precinct voted for Lincoln. The Mormons who named the bar were gone within a season, still looking for farmland. What followed was the largest Chinese community in Mariposa County, with a hotel, a blacksmith shop, stores and gambling houses. Granite for the county jail was quarried near here.

What the plaque says

Mormon Bar In 1849, a group of Mormons established a tent encampment near here, while searching for land to farm. After an influx of gold miners the Mormons moved on. Next, came thousands of Chinese miners, merchants and farmers. Mormon Bar became the largest Chinese community in Mariposa County boasting a hotel, blacksmith shop, stores and gambling dens. Mormon Bar 1860 election returns reported the secession candidates defeated the union candidates 21 to 17. In 1864 President Abraham Lincoln received 11 votes in the Mormon precinct. Mormon Bar was an important stagecoach stop for travelers to and from Yosemite. Granite used in building the Mariposa jail was quarried near here. Archaeological evidence shows that Native Americans lived in the area long before the Mormons arrived. Dedicated by Matuca Chapter 1849 E Clampuus Vitus June 21, 2003 ·6008· Credo Quia Absurdum

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Mariposa County Courthouse — 2.1 mi
• Agua Fria — 3.7 mi
• Bear Valley — 12 mi
• Site of Savage's Trading Post — 14 mi