French Corral is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Nevada County

Nevada County, California

Nevada County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of California, in the Mother Lode country. As of 2010 its population was 98,764. The county seat is Nevada City.-History:Nevada County was created in 1851 from parts of Yuba County....

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, 5 miles (8 km) off State Route 49

California State Route 49

State Route 49 is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush. Highway 49 is numbered after the "49ers", the waves of immigrants who swept into the area looking for gold, and a portion of it...

 via Pleasant Valley Road, and 9 miles (14.5 km) northwest of Nevada City

Nevada City, California

-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...

.

It was one of the first of several historic California gold rush

California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

 mining camps along the San Juan Ridge

San Juan Ridge

The San Juan Ridge is a geographic featureextending approximately east-northeast between the South and Middle Yuba Rivers in the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains...

. The name was literal as the town grew around a mule

Mule

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...

 corral

Corral

Corral is a town, commune and sea port in Los Ríos Region, Chile. It is located south of Corral Bay. Corral is best known for the forts of Corral Bay, a system of defensive batteries and forts made to protect Valdivia during colonial times. Corral was the headquarters of the system...

 built by the first settler in the area, a Frenchman

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

, in 1849. It had a post office during the period of 1859 through 1945.

Few original structures remain besides an old Wells Fargo Bank building.

Geography

French Corral is located at 39°18′22"N 121°09′37"W, and the elevation is 1532 feet (467 m) above sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

.

Historical landmarks

• In 1877, it was the terminus of the world's first long-distance telephone line
  First long-distance telephone line
  The world's first long-distance telephone line, established in 1877, connected French Corral with Bowman Lake at the headwaters of the Yuba River...
  
  .
• The Bridgeport Covered Bridge
  Bridgeport Covered Bridge
  The Bridgeport Covered Bridge is located in Bridgeport, Nevada County, California, southwest of French Corral and north of Lake Wildwood. It is used as a pedestrian crossing over the South Yuba River. The bridge was designed by David Ingefield Wood, and built in 1862. Its lumber came from Plum...
  
   is reputed by some to be the longest single-span wooden covered bridge in the world; the other leading contender is Old Blenheim Bridge
  Old Blenheim Bridge
  Old Blenheim Bridge was a wooden covered bridge that spanned Schoharie Creek in North Blenheim, New York. With an open span of , it had the longest span of any surviving covered bridge in the world; although the structure's total length, made it second in that respect to the Bridgeport Covered Bridge...
  
   in New York State
  New York
  New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
  
  .

External links

• French Corral at museumca.org
• French Corral at malakoff.com
• Photos at University of California Libraries
  University of California Libraries
  The University of California operates the largest academic library system in the world. It manages more than 34 million items in 100 libraries on ten campuses. The purpose of these libraries is to assist research and instruction on the University of California campuses...