"Unnumbered springs and rills that from the earth
Leap forth in melody,
And take, down mountain-side, and valley sweep,
Their graceful, sinuous way."
– From "In Lake County" by poet Carrie Stevens Walter
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Lake County's southernmost town, Middletown, sits near the heart of the Loconoma Valley on St. Helena Creek, with beautiful Mt. St. Helena standing watch.
The southwestern portion of Middletown is guarded by the Mayacamas Mountains, which range to southeastern Mendocino County and northeastern Sonoma County.
Our special part of Lake County hosts rocks of the Franciscan assemblage and the Great Valley sequence with their magnificent igneous rock groupings.
Over time, landslides have occurred in association with the unique serpentine terrain here. If you look carefully, evidence of the Tertiary age and its marine sedimentary rocks can be seen, along with Pliocene volcanic rocks, according to Brice 1953; Bedrossian 1980; Wagner and Bortugno 1982.
Middletown is 16 miles from the town of Calistoga and nearly as close to the town of Lower Lake. Since it sits at this halfway juncture it was given the moniker of Middletown. Once upon a time it was known as Middle Station, then it was called Middleton.
In 1871 we were furnished with our own post office. Later, in 1875 our town's name was changed to Middletown.
According to the USGS Geographic Names System, Middletown was founded in 1871. The first house constructed in Middletown was J.H. Berry's home, built in 1870.
Here in Middletown was a thriving mercury, or quicksilver mining industry which was ongoing until the conclusion of the 19th century.
The Bradfords once owned the Mirabel Mine, later selling it to three gentlemen: Mills, Randol and Bell, hence the name "Mirabel" which combined the first parts of the three names.
Mines such as the Great Western, Ida Clayton, Oat Hill and Yellowjacket were being worked. Some, such as the Mirabel mined silver, as well.
While driving in south Lake County, note the names of these old mines on street signs. Also seen on Middletown's street signs are the names Young, Armstrong and Berry.
O. Armstrong opened his saloon in 1870, then a brewery followed, by Muntz and Scott in 1875.
Charles March Young, who hailed from Illinois arrived in Coyote Valley in 1867, then settled in the Middletown region. He learned to plow at a tender age and once dragged 4,000 pounds of spuds to Sonoma.
Young constructed the first hotel in Middletown, a brick building, in 1875, which was the reason for the first brickyard here. He was the proprietor of a general store, as well, but unfortunately it burned down long ago.
The book entitled, “A Description of Lake County, California: Showing its Advantages as a Place of Residence,” published by Authority of the Board of Supervisors 1888, states, “This section possesses superior and peculiar advantages that recommend it to home and health-seekers. The atmosphere is exceedingly pure and bracing and remarkable for a softness caused by the entire absence of sea winds or fogs. Malaria does not exist, and gnats, bugs and mosquitoes are unknown.”
It further expounds on Middletown's wonders: “This location is undoubtedly the sanitarium for asthmatics, consumptives and persons affected with nervous diseases; and in this respect it has no superior on the continent.”
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
Lake County Time Capsule: Superior Middletown
- Kathleen Scavone
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