Bear Valley (formerly Haydenville, Biddle's Camp, Biddleville, Simpsonville, and Johnsonville) is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

Mariposa County Mariposa County () is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,131. The county seat is Mariposa. It is located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, north of Fresno, east of ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. It is located south-southeast of Coulterville, at an elevation of . Bear Valley has been designated

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

#331. The population was 156 at the 2020 census.

History

The place was originally called "Haydenville" in honor of David, Charles, and William Hayden, gold miners. The place later bore the names "Biddle's Camp" and "Biddleville" in honor of William C. Biddle. It later was named "Simpsonville" in honor of Robert Simpson, local merchant. The name "Johnsonville" honored John F. Johnson. The name became Bear Valley in 1858. The Haydenville post office opened before January 21, 1851, and closed in 1852. The Bear Valley post office operated from 1858 to 1912, from 1914 to 1919, and from 1933 to 1955. In 1847,

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

, a veteran of the

Bear Flag Revolt The California Republic ( es, La República de California), or Bear Flag Republic, was an unrecognized breakaway state from Mexico, that for 25 days in 1846 militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco, in and around what is now Son ...

, decided to settle down in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. Desiring a ranch near San Jose, he sent $3,000 to the American consul

Thomas O. Larkin Thomas Oliver Larkin (September 16, 1802 – October 27, 1858), known in Spanish as Don Tomás Larkin, was an American diplomat and businessman. Larkin served as the only U.S. consul to Alta California during the Mexican era and was covertly in ...

. Instead of his intended purchase, he was sold Rancho Las Mariposas, consisting of in the southern

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

foothills around Bear Valley.John C. Frémont
sierrafoothillmagazine.com, Accessed August 2, 2009. The original Mexican grant was a "floating grant", a grant of land for which the area was precisely given but the actual boundaries were left unspecified (usually due to inadequate surveys of the areas involved). After the beginning of the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

in 1848, Fremont moved his grant's borders into the hills. Those hills proved to be lucrative, and his mining operations centered in Bear Valley. At its peak, Bear Valley had a population of 3,000. During 1850-60 when Frémont's Pine Tree and Josephine Mines were producing, Frémont built an elegant hotel, Oso House; the structure, like many in the area, burned in the late 19th century. Frémont lived and worked in the city, and his large home was nicknamed the Little

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, coincidentally built two years after he was the first Republican Party candidate for US President; the home burned in 1866.

Geography

Bear Valley is in west-central Mariposa County in the foothills of the

California State Route 49 State Route 49 (SR 49) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush. Highway 49 is numbered after the "49ers", the waves of immigrants ...

passes through the community, leading southeast to Mariposa, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

, and northwest through the

Merced River The Merced River (), in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and st ...

canyon to Coulterville. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the CDP covers , of which , or 0.04%, are water.

Demographics

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

reported that Bear Valley had a population of 125. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 17.3 people per square mile (6.7/km). The racial makeup of Bear Valley was 117 (93.6%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0 (0.0%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1 (0.8%) Native American, 2 (1.6%)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 1 (0.8%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 4 (3.2%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 8 persons (6.4%). The Census reported that 125 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 58 households, out of which 15 (25.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them; 29 (50.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together; 3 (5.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1 (1.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 4 (6.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, 0 (0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. Twenty households (34.5%) were made up of individuals, and 9 (15.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16. There were 33

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

(56.9% of all households). The average family size was 2.85. The population was spread out, with 25 people (20.0%) under the age of 18, 1 person (0.8%) aged 18 to 24, 30 people (24.0%) aged 25 to 44, 38 people (30.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 31 people (24.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males. There were 68 housing units at an average density of 9.4 per square mile (3.6/km), of which 44 (75.9%) were owner-occupied, and 14 (24.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.7%. Ninety-one people (72.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 34 people (27.2%) lived in rental housing units.

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Mariposa County, California California Historical Landmarks Census-designated places in California