California (Northern) Ghost Towns/Sites covers the northern portion of the state of California divided at the city of Merced.  This ghost town packages features a transparent overlay printed from a modern California road system and placed over the four sections of the 1886 map of California.  The purpose is to show the changes in the state over a period of approximately 100 years.  Place names may appear on the historical maps but may be absent on the current map. The reader should note that some of the early locations were moved from time to time while others changed their names or simply failed.  The reader should be reminded that some of the early place names might have been a post office operated in a ranch house or an early stage station as well as town sites.  Some locations were moved from time to time while others changed their names or simply failed.

Accompanying text with anecdotal stories from the history of each of the four sections of the state appears on the reverse sides of maps #3-6.   For example, the East Central section of the 1886 map features many of the familiar names associated with the mother lode.  In fact, the town name “Gilroy” appeared twice southeast of San Jose.  The town of Bale, located in northwest Napa County, was founded by Dr. Edwin F. Bale who arrived in California from England in 1837.  Interestingly to note…he was jailed for bootlegging in 1840 and again in 1844 for shooting at Salvador Vallejo.

While perusing and studying the maps in this collection, readers should be reminded of the limitations of early surveyors who most likely used primitive equipment and limited cartographic knowledge.  All maps in the Ghost Town series are reproduced from authentic documents on file from various archival collections such as the National Archives, Library of Congress and state libraries.