Mariposa Town Historic District

Mariposa's historic district preserves the core of a Gold Rush and mining town in the Sierra foothills. Commercial buildings of brick, adobe and Victorian false-front design line Charles Street, many terraced into the hillside and fitted with iron fire shutters after town fires in 1858 and 1866. Behind them, a grid of streets holds houses ranging from vernacular Gold Rush cottages to Craftsman bungalows and Spanish Revival homes built up to about 1940. Public buildings include the 1854 county courthouse, described as the oldest courthouse in continuous use in California, and a granite jail from 1858. The Fremont Office-Adobe is thought to be the oldest surviving structure in the town and the only one still standing that John C. Fremont used in the early 1850s. The district was recognized for its ties to mining and commerce, for the Fremont connection, and for its collection of early architecture. Of 101 buildings, 63 contribute to its character.