Mountain Ranch, CA

Mountain Ranch is a Calaveras County Gold Rush settlement whose name changed as the local map changed. The early town grew around a sawmill, and the post office established in 1856 moved to the nearby El Dorado camp in 1868; El Dorado then became known as Mountain Ranch. The townsite was patented in 1872, another sign of the settlement becoming a fixed place on the county map. The name therefore belongs to both a small town center and the surrounding rural district shaped by the old camp and sawmill.

California Historical Landmark 282 marks the original town area at Mountain Ranch Road and Whiskey Slide Road. The marker also carries a school story: a school bell was used from 1885 through 1953, and the old Cave City School District eventually joined with Banner to form the El Dorado Union Elementary School District. The landmark intersection and the roads around it remain the practical orientation points for this spread-out Calaveras County community. Gold Rush history shows up here through place names, school records, and the line between the town center and the wider mountain country.