La Panza (
Spanish for "The Belly"), is a populated place, formerly a gold boom town, in
San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282, ...
. It lies in the
La Panza Range at an elevation of 1880 feet (573m). La Panza derives from a Spanish word for
paunch of beef, that
Californio
Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there sinc ...
hunters used to lure bears. The location was recorded in 1828, with the name ''paraje la panza'' (the paunch place).
[Erwin Gustav Gudde, California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names, University of California Press, 1960, p.172]
History
The discovery of placer gold in
La Panza Canyon in 1878 began a small gold rush and La Panza grew into a gold mining boomtown. It had its own post office from November 4, 1879, to June 15, 1908.
The site today
One dilapidated building remains at the site, on private property, and can be seen from the Pozo Road. Placer gold mining and quartz mining claims are still worked in the vicinity.
La Panza District, La Panza Mts, San Luis Obispo Co., California, USA
from mindat.org accessed December 21, 2013
References
Former settlements in San Luis Obispo County, California
Ghost towns in California
{{SanLuisObispoCountyCA-geo-stub