39°48′11″N 121°26′55″W / 39.80306°N 121.44861°W / 39.80306; -121.44861

Pulga, California
Unincorporated community
Pulga, California is located in California
Pulga, California
Pulga, California
Location in California
Pulga, California is located in the United States
Pulga, California
Pulga, California
Pulga, California (the United States)
Coordinates: 39°48′11″N 121°26′55″W / 39.80306°N 121.44861°W / 39.80306; -121.44861
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyButte County
Elevation
[1]
1,398 ft (426 m)

Pulga is an unincorporated community in Butte County, California. It is located along the west slope of the Feather River canyon. A variant name for the community is Big Bar.

History

The land was once occupied by Konkow Maidu tribes.[2] In 1885, the town of Pulga was founded by William King, a sawmill owner and railroad geologist.[2][3] A post office was opened in 1906.[4] The area had attracted gold miners and miners of vesuvianite, also known as "Pulga Jade".[2] The town was always small, and peaked in size in the 1930s and 1940s with a few hundred people.[2] The Western Pacific Railroad's Feather River Route line ran through the town and offered Vista Dome cars, designed and built with the scenery on this route in mind.[2] By the late-1960s, this was no longer a train route and the mining business had dried up.[2][3]

In 1994, the William King estate sold the town property, on which the Mystic Valley Retreat and School of Hypnotism was erected; most of the buildings have fallen into disrepair.[2]

In 2015, the 64-acre (26 ha) town was purchased by Betsy Ann Cowley.[2][5] Crowley opened it as a feminist artist retreat and event venue, also named Pulga.[2][3]

In 2018, high tension lines near the Poe Dam, north of Pulga, were the cause of the Camp Fire. Two buildings in Pulga were destroyed and others were damaged.[6][7]

Geography

Pulga is at the mouth of Flea Valley Creek, which gives rise to the toponym.[4]

A Union Pacific Railroad passes through the settlement.

See also

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Pulga, California
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Leibrock, Rachel (Winter 2020). "Welcome to Pulga: How One Woman Bought A Ghost Town And Turned It Into A Feminist Haven". Bust magazine. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Lefebvre, Sam (November 19, 2018). "Inside Pulga, Artist Refuge at the Center of the Camp Fire". KQED. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 296. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  5. ↑ Morris, J. D.; Alexander, Kurtis (November 13, 2018). "Homeowner's claim on PG&E work raises questions on Camp Fire's origin". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  6. ↑ "ArcGIS Web Application".
  7. ↑ "Update: PG&E says email to Camp Fire victim focused on different transmission line". The Mercury News. November 12, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
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