Tuolumne City is a former settlement on the

Tuolumne River The Tuolumne River (Yokutsan: ''Tawalimnu'') flows for through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne ...

, originally in Tuolumne County, during the California Gold Rush. The site has been in Stanislaus County, California since 1854 when it was formed from the western part of the old

Tuolumne County Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises the ...

History

Tuolumne City was intended as a river port on the Tuolumne River for steamboats after the steamboat ''Georgiana'' pioneered a route up the

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...

and Tuolumne River to it in May 1850. It was mostly abandoned after the low water of that summer grounded the ''Georgiana'' there, and river traffic failed to come again. From the 1860s to 1871 the town revived when more shallow draft steamboats were used on the Tuolumne River. Steamers on the river were discontinued in 1871, and most of the buildings of the town were moved a few miles east to

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

.Jerry MacMullen, Paddlewheel Days In California, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1970.

References

Ghost towns in Stanislaus County, California Mining communities of the California Gold Rush Tuolumne River 1850 establishments in California Populated places established in 1850 Former settlements in Stanislaus County, California Former populated places in California {{StanislausCountyCA-geo-stub