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Dogtown, Mariposa County, California
Dogtown is a former settlement in Mariposa County, California, United States.[1] It was located on Maxwell Creek 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Coulterville,[2] at an elevation of 2582 feet (787 m).[1] Dogtown was a major hydraulic mining center in the late nineteenth century. At its peak, the town boasted numerous hotels, saloons, a dance hall, and a red light district. The town was supposedly named for the many stray dogs that roamed the area during the Gold Rush. A dam failure flooded much of the townsite in 1899; by 1989, only "scattered building foundations and half a dozen wooden structures on the verge of collapse" remained at the site.[3] Several unrelated communities and mining camps in California also had the name Dogtown during the nineteenth century; including one in Mono County, one in neighboring Merced County,[4] another in Butte County (now Magalia), one in Calaveras County,[5] and a later settlement in Marin County.[6] References
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