Summary
- California's oldest towns, including San Diego, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo, were established as settlements around Spanish missions.
- These towns have a rich history and played important roles in the development of California, from being capitals under Spanish and Mexican rule to centers of trade and commerce.
- While some towns like San Francisco and Santa Clara have evolved into thriving cities, others like Bodie and Panamint City have become famous ghost towns, attracting visitors interested in history and a touch of the supernatural.
Although the state is popular for its ghost towns, many of the oldest towns in California are still thriving today. While many current ghost towns were founded during the gold rush, history began far earlier than the 1800s in California.
The earliest settlements in California were the Spanish Missions, which lay on a travel route from South to North. Many of those Missions are large cities today, with communities building up around them over time. Other cities have been lost to the past, along with miners' dreams of striking it rich in the gold and silver mines.
10 San Diego
San Diego is California's oldest town, and of course, is still vibrant today. The city was the first European settlement in the state and was founded in 1769 with the erection of Mission San Diego.
Today, San Diego is known for its Amtrak station, which was another first in California; Santa Fe Depot was the hub that connected travelers, bringing them in for the first World Exposition. That was in 1915, during a time when other California cities were falling into disrepair, well on their way to becoming ghost towns.
9 Monterey
Monterey is a lively tourist destination today, famed for its gorgeous beaches and ocean conservancy. But in 1770, the area was wild, with only Mission de San Carolos Borromeo de Monterey acting as a haven for travelers (as well as a not-so-kind employer of local indigenous people).
The city of Monterey grew up around the mission, as did the entire Monterey Peninsula. In fact, Monterey was the capital of Alta California under Spanish rule, as well as during Mexico's temporary reclamation of parts of the state and the Mexican-American War.
8 San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo is another city that sprang up around a mission beginning in 1772. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was another settlement that helped grow a city; today, San Luis Obispo is a decent-sized community with a State University.
While in San Luis Obispo, try something that's still a bit creepy but not so spooky; visit Bubblegum Alley, where literal chewing gum covers the walls.
7 San Francisco
San Francisco might be known for very different things today, but the city began as another mission. Mission San Francisco de Asís helped settle the area, but San Francisco was previously known as Yerba Buena (which means "Good Herb" in Spanish) from about 1776.
By the time SF was incorporated in 1850, it was well-known by its new name, but visitors can still find attractions named after the original settlement, such as Yerba Buena Island and Yerba Buena Gardens.
6 San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano also sprouted from a mission that was erected in 1776. Mission San Juan Capistrano became a town in 1833, under Mexican rule, but it took quite a while for the United States to revive it after the war.
San Juan Capistrano's claim to fame is thanks to its use as a filming location for many Hollywood projects in the early 1900s.
5 Santa Clara
Formerly Mission Santa Clara de Asís when it was first established in 1777, Santa Clara is now one of the Bay Area's biggest cities. It has undergone plenty of changes over the years, though; in 1963, the city voted to tear down a large block of the historic downtown so that they could receive urban renewal funding.
- Santa Clara is home to the state's oldest university, Santa Clara University.
4 Silver City Ghost Town
Silver City Ghost Town may have sprouted in the mountains of California long after the state was settled, but its heyday was iconic. Silver City Ghost Town, in Bodfish California, is home to what is said to be one of the oldest gold rush-era structures in the state.
The town today is a recreation of its historic self, complete with buildings styled to represent the city at its height from 1869 to 1940. Travelers can visit—and possibly experience a ghostly presence—for a small fee.
- Silver City Ghost Town Admission: $5.50 per adult
3 Bodie
Bodie is perhaps California's most famous ghost town, complete with a seemingly haunted Wild West setting. The city was established back in 1876, but by 1915 it was an abandoned ghost town.
As old and decrepit as the city is, Bodie is worth visiting for history enthusiasts and those seeking out a bit of a fright.
2 Calico
Calico Ghost Town was a silver mining camp in California and was established in 1881. The desert-mountain camp is in the Calico Mountains and is a dangerous destination in summer; plan for cooler weather and spend two to three hours exploring.
Today, Calico Ghost Town is full of spooky sites worth exploring, though it is formally a county park.
1 Panamint City
Panamint City, California is a ghost town near Death Valley and was once a boom town for silver and copper. Its heyday was from 1873 or 1874 to about 1926 when the mines stopped working.
The city was abandoned right at its height when storms created flooding that washed out countless buildings and made mining unsafe.
This secret ghost town is eerie enough in photos, but seeing it in person also requires a rugged hike.
- How do you get to Panamint City ghost town? It's a five-mile hike to Panamint City.
Panamint City is part of Death Valley National Park, so for visitors headed that way, it may be worth planning an excursion to various other ghost towns.