Terra Cotta is a former mining town in
Riverside County
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...
. It was established in 1887, in the Warm Springs Valley northwest of the town of
Lake Elsinore
Lake Elsinore is a natural freshwater lake in Riverside County, California, located east of the Santa Ana Mountains and fed by the San Jacinto River. Originally named ''Laguna Grande'' by Spanish explorers, it was renamed for the town of Elsino ...
, and later incorporated into the City of Lake Elsinore.
Coal, along with clay deposits, was found on the site by
John D. Huff in the late 1880s, and the
Southern California Coal and Clay Company was formed to mine them. The town site of Terra Cotta was laid out and was given a post office on October 26, 1887. However, in May 1893, its post office was closed and moved to Lake Elsinore. A plant for the manufacture of sewer and water pipes was built using the coal to fire ceramic pipes in the four kilns. The finished product had to be shipped by wagon six miles through Lake Elsinore to the La Laguna rail station at the mouth of
Railroad Canyon
Railroad Canyon, originally named San Jacinto Canyon, also known as Cottonwood Canyon, and Annie Orton Canyon, is a valley located in Riverside County, California. It encloses the lower course of the San Jacinto River at the point where the river ...
until 1896, when a spur line was built through Lake Elsinore and Terra Cotta to the new clay deposits in
Alberhill
Alberhill (formerly, Alberhil) is an unincorporated community in Riverside County, California. Alberhill is located northwest of Lake Elsinore. It lies at an elevation of 1234 feet (376 m). Alberhill was named after C.H. Albers and James and ...
. The coal mined was also used locally as fuel for the stamping mill at the
Good Hope Mine and was shipped elsewhere in the state.
Almost abandoned in 1901, Terra Cotta was revived in 1906 when the California Fireproof Construction Company built a new plant there to make ceramic pipes. In 1912, the plant was closed; by 1925, it was closed down, along with most of the buildings in the town. The clay mine in the town site continued to be operated by the
Pacific Clay Products Company until 1940, when they transferred all their operations to Alberhill.
An old grid of dirt streets laid out through the sagebrush is all that remains of Terra Cotta. It can be accessed from Lakeshore Drive by Terra Cotta Road or from the
I-15 freeway by Nichols Road.
References
* Tom Hudson, ''Lake Elsinore Valley, its story 1776–1977'', Published for Lake Elsinore Valley Bicentennial Commission by Laguna House, 1978.
*
External links
Satellite map of Terra Cotta* [http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/lake-elsinore/lake-elsinore-headlines-index/20120803-lake-elsinore-the-forgotten-town-of-terra-cotta.ece?ssimg=666752#ssStory666754 Article with images of the dirt and sagebrush where Terra Cotta once was]
Communities in Riverside County, California
Ghost towns in California
Lake Elsinore, California
Former settlements in Riverside County, California
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