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Mokelumne Hill Community Church

8245 Main Street
209-286-1165

Our Purpose . . . to bring people to Jesus Christ . . . and commitment in His local church family, help them grow to Christian maturity, and enable and equip them for ministry in the church, in the community, and for their life mission in the world, in order to magnify the Lord.

History :

A group of prospectors from Oregon are credited with discovering the rich placers here along the Mokelumne River. It happened in October of 1848, a little way below the town's present site, and the diggings were rich; so rich that even with their provisions almost gone, the men chose to risk starvation rather than abandon their claim to make the long trip to Stockton for supplies. A man named Syree was finally persuaded to go and when he returned, he set up a trading post atop a hill near the scene of operations. In a canvas tent he sold food, tools, and supplies at a price that more than made up for any mining he had missed.

Most of the early mining in the area took place at Big Bar, the spot located by the Oregonians, and as word of the diggings spread through the mines, more and more miners began arriving and soon the land was covered with their tents and various shelters. Among the first to arrive were those already in the vicinity; the French trappers from the Hudson's Bay Company, Mexican and American settlers from the central valley, and ex-soldiers from Stevenson's Regiment, mustered out of service and looking for gold. One of Stevenson's men, Samuel W. Pearsall, discovered the first gold found in Mokelumne Hill, on the north side of Stockton Hill.


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