California (Southern) Ghost Towns/Sites covers the southern portion of the state of California divided at the city of Merced.  This ghost town package features a transparent overlay printed from a modern California road system and placed over three sections of the 1886 map of California.  The purpose is to show the changes in the state over a period of approximately 100 years.  Place names may appear on the historical maps but may be absent on the current map. The reader should note that some of the early locations were moved from time to time while others changed their names or simply failed.  The reader should be reminded that some of the early place names might have been a post office operated in a ranch house or an early stage station as well as town sites.  Some locations were moved from time to time while others changed their names or simply failed.

Accompanying text with anecdotal stories from the history of each of the four sections of the state appears on the reverse sides of maps #4-6.   For example, Coyote Wells in the southeast section as shown on the 1886 map was named by James Mason of the “Jackass Mail Lines.”  Evidently the name Coyote Wells was inspired when he saw a coyote scratching the sand for water.

While perusing and studying the maps in this collection, readers should be reminded of the limitations of early surveyors who most likely used primitive equipment and limited cartographic knowledge.  All maps in the Ghost Town series are reproduced from authentic documents on file from various archival collections such as the National Archives, Library of Congress and state libraries.