Nortonville is an unincorporated

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

Contra Costa County, California Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,165,927. Th ...

. It was located on Kirker Creek north-northeast of

Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton, California, Clayton and northeast of Danville, Califo ...

, at an elevation of 801 feet (244 m).

Location

Nortonville is located on Nortonville Road just outside the city of Pittsburg in

Contra Costa County Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish language, Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a U.S. county, county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the ...

. The town site is now part of the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve.

History

Nortonville was founded by Noah Norton in 1855."The move of coal miners from Nortonville, California to Black Diamond, Washington Territory, 1885". Jacqueline Byer Dial, 1980. He, along with three partners named Cutler, Matheson and Sturgis, started the Black Diamond coal mine at Nortonville in 1860."Letter from Contra Costa County," ''Daily Alta California'', December 10, 1860. The mine was incorporated as the

Black Diamond Coal Mining Company The Black Diamond Coal Mining Company was formed in 1861, consolidating the Cumberland and Black Diamond coal mines in the region of Mount Diablo, in Contra Costa County, California.http://www.southport-land.com/PDFs/1861_06_15_1st_mtg_rev3.pdf M ...

in June 1861."Another Coal Mining Company," ''Daily Alta California'', June 15, 1861."History; The Company"
southport-land.com/history. Retrieved February 2, 2011. Nortonville was also the southern terminus of the six mile long Black Diamond Coal Mining Railroad (also known as the "Black Diamond Railroad"), built in 1868.Third Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of California for the Years ending December 31, 1880-81-82, pages 345-348. The railroad connected Nortonville with the

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River ( ; ) 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 Suisun Bay, San Francis ...

, at Black Diamond Landing, California, with a stop at Cornwall, California (the latter two towns are now a part of the city of

Pittsburg, California Pittsburg (formerly Black Diamond, New York Landing and New York of the Pacific) is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is an industrial suburb located on the southern shore of the Suisun Bay in the East Bay region of t ...

). The town was home to many Welsh miners. In 1885 the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company moved all the coal miners from Nortonville to another of the Company's mines at Black Diamond,

Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

. The Nortonville mine was so deep that it acted as a drain for the surrounding mines, and when the owners of the other mines refused to contribute to the cost of pumping out the water, the company simply shut down and moved its operations.Bruce Cornwall, "Life Sketch of Pierre Barlow Cornwall," (1906), p. 67. Currently what is left behind at Nortonville is a deserted area. The brick foundation of the mine's hoisting works, remnants of the railroad bed, and an old cemetery are all that remain. The cemetery is known as the "Rose Hill Cemetery," which was named for Emma Rose, daughter of Alvinza Hayward, who was president and chief stockholder of the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company."Rose Hill Cemetery & The Mt. Diablo Coalfield," ''Diablo Watch'', Spring 2005, No. 39. In the 1940s Mrs. Rose donated the cemetery to the county. Four other coal mining towns were established in the same mining district: Somersville, Stewartsville, West Hartley and Judsonville. A post office operated at Nortonville from 1874 to 1910, with closures in 1887 and from 1890 to 1891.

References

External links

"Nortonville"
Nortonville on ghosttowns.com.
Life Sketch of Pierre Barlow Cornwall
written by his son Bruce Cornwall, 1906.

(history of the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company). Retrieved 2011-02-02. {{authority control Former settlements in Contra Costa County, California Ghost towns in California Ghost towns in the San Francisco Bay Area Populated places established in 1855 1855 establishments in California 1910 disestablishments in California Company towns in California