Cottonwood is a former settlement in

Yolo County Yolo County (; Wintun: ''Yo-loy''), officially the County of Yolo, is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 216,403. Its county seat is Woodland. Yolo County is incl ...

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 ...

. It was located south of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, at an elevation of 164 feet (50 m). It still appears on maps as of 1917.

History

Cottonwood was named for the large number of cottonwood trees in the vicinity. Charles Heinrich founded the town in 1852 when he established a store. The same year he bought , which were bounded on each side by land purchased by others. This area was served by the Cache Creek Post Office which began its service on March 24, 1852. A racetrack was constructed by Andrew Work about one mile northeast of the store that Heinrich built. The upkeep of animals at the racetrack made way for the establishment of a local

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

in 1852. In 1861 Henry and Caroline Fredrick gave three acres for a Union School on the corner of roads 90 and 23. By 1870 the area had a hotel, a saloon, two stores, a blacksmith, a wagon maker, a saddler, and a shoemaker. A

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

building was also present. Many of the buildings, businesses, and residents of Cottonwood moved from their little town to

, one mile north, when the a rail line connecting

Vaca Valley Vaca, is an abbreviation of "vacation". Vaca also may refer to: Geography *Vaca Mountains, a mountain range in Napa County, California *Vaca Díez Province, Bolivia * Vaca Mare River, a tributary of the Siriu River in Romania * Vaca Mică River, ...

to the Clear Lake Railroad line bypassed them on its way to Madison. The decision to bypass Cottonwood was made when D.B. Hurlbut gave the right-of-way through his land and a $1,000 donation for the rail-company to construct a terminal in Madison. The road was graded from Winters to Hurlbut's land by area resident George W. Scott. Even the Cache Creek Post Office moved to Madison on March 29, 1877. The only thing left in Cottonwood was the Cottonwood Cemetery with tombstones from the 1860s and 1870s. The Cottonwood Cemetery is still in active use today.

References

External links

* {{Yolo County, California Former settlements in Yolo County, California Ghost towns in California Populated places established in 1852 1852 establishments in California