A sign at the intersection of Indiana Ranch Road and Indiana School Road marks the historic site of the Indiana Ranch School, established in 1865. Photo by queerbychoice. Indiana Ranch is a historic ranch in Yuba County. It is located northeast of Frenchtown, at the intersection of Indiana Ranch Road and Indiana School Road.
History
The Page brothers from Indiana settled at Indiana Ranch in 1851, along with Peter Labadie and John Tolles. A stagecoach station called Keystone Ranch was located just south of it, and Maple Springs House (later purchased by Peter Labadie) was built just northeast of it in 1852.1 The History of Yuba County, California (Chapter XXXI: Foster Bar Township) by Thompson & West, 1879, described Indiana Ranch this way:
| The Indiana Ranch, in the Keystone Valley, was first settled in 1851, by Page Brothers and A. P. Labadie, who opened a hotel. John Tolles also kept a hotel about the same time. Gold was discovered along the ravine and creek in 1851, and the diggings were called "Indiana Creek," or "Tolles New Diggings." One hundred feet square was a mining claim, and an ounce per day the average yield. In 1851 and 1852, there were between four and five hundred miners at work along Indiana and Keystone creeks, making a very lively camp. The place received the name from Page Brothers, who came from the State of Indiana. In 1854, Page Brothers and Labadie sold their store and hotel to M. G. Morey, who still owns the Indiana Ranch Hotel. John Tolles also kept a store and bowling alley. Among the other early settlers were L. S. Camper, Reuben Reed, A. J. Reed, Reuben Reed, Jr., Owen Owens, and Edward Medlock; A. Weaver was the first Justice of the Peace. The first religious services were held by people of the Methodist Episcopal denomination in a private house, in 1855. After the school house was built services were held there. A Mr. Satterfield officiated at these meetings, working in the mines through the week. Services are now held every third Sabbath at the new school house, Rev. Mr. Carvin, of Brownsville, officiating. A private school was kept in 1855 by Miss Phillips, a daughter of Captain Phillips of the Peoria House. It was held in a private dwelling until 1856, when a subscription was raised for the construction of a new school house. It was 20x30 feet, cost about five hundred dollars, and was located near the road from Indiana Ranch to Keystone Ranch. The school district was formed in 1857. In 1860, the house was moved three-fourths of a mile further south. In 1865, the district was divided, and a new school house was built on the old site, costing four hundred dollars. The old school house was used for meetings for some time, but has now fallen into decay. In 1857, the creek and ravine having been worked out, there was a great decrease in the population, consequent upon the departure of the miners for other localities. There are now about one hundred people living in the immediate vicinity of the hotel. |
Places
Links
Indiana Ranch Create an Indiana Ranch entry on Wikipedia!
Footnotes
1. California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State by David L. Durham. Word Dancer Press, 1998
