Hildreth, California

Hildreth
Unincorporated community
Hildreth Location in California Show map of California Hildreth Hildreth (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 37°06′32″N 119°37′59″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Madera County
Elevation [1]	1,247 ft (380 m)

Hildreth is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California.[1] It is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east-southeast of O'Neals,[2] at an elevation of 1247 feet (380 m).[1]

In the late 1870s, Tom Hildreth opened a store at the site, thereby beginning the town named for him.[2] A post office operated at Hildreth from 1886 to 1896.[2] At its peak in the 1880s, Hildreth had a hotel, three general stores, a mine, a barbershop, and other businesses catering to miners and travelers on the stage road from Millerton. The town "officially died" in 1896 when the post office closed.[3] Gold mining in the Hildreth district briefly revived in the late 1920s,[4] but the town was never repopulated. By 2010, only the schoolhouse and cemetery remained.[3]

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hildreth, California
2. Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 782. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
3. Coate, Bill (October 14, 2010). "Bloodshed at the Hildreth Hotel". The Fresno Bee. Fresno, CA. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
4. Coultrap, M.L. (August 25, 1929). "Mining revived in old Hildreth district, with prospects good". The Fresno Morning Republican. Fresno, CA. Retrieved November 29, 2023.