Keyesville (formerly, Keysville
and Hogeye
) is an
unincorporated community in
Kern County,
California.
It is located west of
Lake Isabella and the
Kern River Valley, at an elevation of .
Keyesville, founded in 1854 is named for Richard M. Keyes, whose discovery of gold in 1853 started the
Kern River Gold Rush
KERN (1180 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Wasco- Greenacres, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by American General Media. The radio studios and offices are in the American General ...
.
History
Keyesville townsite has been privately held since the 1890's. Gold was discovered here in 1853 and the town became a gold hub of Southern California. Still located on the site are the original Post Office, Gold Assayer's office, Merchantile Building, Blacksmith Shop, and one of the brothels. A petition to the commander of
Camp Babbitt
Camp Babbitt was an American Civil War Union Army camp located in two sites in the vicinity of Visalia, California.
History
The first site of Camp Babbitt, established on June 24, 1862, was located one mile northeast of the center of the town of ...
about the depredations of the local Native Americans led to the
Keyesville Massacre nearby on 19 April 1863. The community is registered as
California Historical Landmark #98.
Natural history
Keyesville lies in the lower elevation
Greenhorn Mountains. There are scattered trees and brushy
chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
slopes surrounding it. A number of
wildflowers are in evidence in this part of the Greenhorn Mountains, including the yellow mariposa lily, ''
Calochortus luteus'', which species is at the southern limit of its range within the Greenhorn Mountains.
California Historical Landmark
The California Historical Landmark reads:
:''NO. 98 KEYSVILLE - From 1853 until 1870, Keysville was a center of both placer and quartz gold mining. On the knoll just below the townsite may still be seen the outlines of an earthworks fort, built to meet a possible Indian attack in 1863.''
Cal California parks Historical Landmarks
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See also
* California Historical Landmarks in Kern County
* California Historical Landmark
References
Unincorporated communities in Kern County, California
Greenhorn Mountains
Kern River Valley
California Historical Landmarks
Populated places in the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Unincorporated communities in California
{{KernCountyCA-geo-stub