The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • Z0

FRIDAY 8 OAKHURST OAKHURST STAR 8 Time Printed 19:45 Composite Logical Page hroughout EasternMadera names, unusual quirks in the road and implausible water crossings almost shout of other persons in other times, going other places with other interests. Some 14 ghost towns in the area attest to this past. Along the Fresno River, about two miles from Ahwahnee, there was once a town called String Town, which later gave way to Gertrude. In 1899, 40 of its chil- dren attended its school. Closure of the Enterprise Mine finally caused it to fade.

Just outside Gertrude, a cross- roads cluster was named Poison Switch, because of its notorious saloon. A store opened in 1897, but the area did not grow and in 1924 Andrew Mecchi bought the building and moved it to Ahwahnee. Further downstream, Grub Gulch was at one time the largest mining community. Hotels, a saloon, stores and homes dotted an area where hardly a trace remains to the casual eye today (the Clampers have a bronze plaque marking this area). As many as 5,000 people lived there at one time and later when the Gambetta Mine began oper- ations in 1880, its population still was in the upper hundreds.

In 1906, the last lode mine closed and a railroad to Yosemite Valley through El Portal cut into Grub other vital mone- tary source, tourist travel. Cattle ranching nearby helped. Farther down the road to Raymond was the town of Miami, established a short time after Grub Gulch came into existence. The town, located at the bottom of the grade that led to the mines, died when Raymond came into being. The post office survived for three short years 1884 to 1887.

Little else is known about the town, except that it was not named for Miami, Florida, which was born 12 years after Miami, California was estab- lished. Farther east, near what is now Indian Lakes Estates, was an area known as Picayune. In 1883 the town of Narbo sprang to life there, when a flamboyant French mining enterprise moved in, only to die four years later and $100,000 poorer a few of the investments of the Quartz Hill Mining Company included. A 25-mile ditch and flume for water almost got completed to Crane Valley (now Bass Lake), for which water rights were never obtained. A huge stamp mill, to be powered by flume water, had been hauled in, so a huge marine steam engine was shipped in to power the stamp mill in place of the non-existing water.

A six-day run, at less than one-sixth capacity, depleted the claim and finished the Quartz Hill Mining Company. Farther down below the foothills, about two miles west of Highway 41 on what is now Road 406, was the town of Zebra, started in 1881, near the mine of the same name. A post office, installed a few years later, went out of existence in 1904. Little else is known of Zebra. Off to the west was what now is the junction of the Bates, also known as Bates Station.

Established in 1883, the town moved about three miles to the west when a new postmaster was appointed in 1889. It died from neglect four years later. Of even shorter life was a community named Femmons near Nipinnawasee that lasted only long enough to have postal service for three months in 1912. A few other ghost town areas include Sesame, earlier called Bellview, near the junction of Roads 210 and 211; a once large Hildreth near Magnet about three miles above on Road 200; Finegold up four miles farther, and Bailey Flats, a store and post office near the Mariposa County line. A number of communities that sprang up during the Gold Rush era did not survive once the money from mining was gone.

Some, however, did survive and have continued to thrive through the past hundred or more years. The communities of Eastern Madera County continue to fill the needs of the people who now call them home. The mountain people are supported by a number of indus- tries: Tourism is a big industry, some ranching. The U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection have stations in the area and employ a significant number of people.

The schools are major employers, as are the retail busi- nesses, service businesses and the profession. Madera County and the State of California employ a number of people in the Mountain Area. The present growing moun- tain communities are definitely not in danger of following the ghost towns into a fading memory. HISTORY A8 Friday, November 5, 2004 Sierra Star, Oakhurst, California www.sierrastar.com Mountain Moments Grace Grady 683-7117 40080 Hwy 49, Oakhurst, CA 93644 Business Hours: 8-7 Sun. 9-5 www.truevaluehomecenter.com find all the supplies you need to paint like a pro! Sale Ends Nov.

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Must be 21 to attend all shows. Ghost towns are simply a part of local history SUBMITTED Some of the mountain communities that were formed during the Gold Rush period still continue to thrive today..