At one time known as Copperhead Flat, Sheep Ranch was likely founded in the 1850s. The name came from all the sheep corrals in the area. In 1860, gold ore was in such a corral and Sheep Ranch became a bustling gold mining town. There would be five flourishing gold mines and a ten-stamp mill before the turn of the century. The result of the gold was fifteen saloons in town.

During its heyday, Sheep Ranch made two churches: one Catholic and the other Protestant. The Eagle Hotel and Pioneer Hotel were two prominent local establishments, but only the Pioneer Hotel still stands. Some of the exterior scenes in the Clint Eastwood movie "Honkytonk Man" were filmed on Main Street and the Pioneer Hotel.

Calaveras County
Population: 87
Elevation: 2,359 ft.

Date visited: May 15, 2020

Brick Shed

Unknown age and unknown purpose.

Sheep Ranch Food Market

Located on Main Street in Sheep Ranch, this building was probably the largest business in Sheep Ranch in the early 1920s-1930s. The price of gasoline listed on the pump was from about 1940, though the two wings on the "V' in "Chevron" suggested a WWII dating.

Cooper's Corral

This wood building has a sign indicating it was built in 1874. Now a private residence.

Pioneer Hotel

A native of Norway, Jonas C. Mauritson was reported to have jumped ship in New York in 1855 and went by the name of Charles Anderson to avoid being sent back. He migrated to California and frist settled in the mining town of West Point where he operated a brewery with a partner. By 1866, he had a house and lot known as Anderson's Saloon in Sheep Ranch. This saloon was a presursor of the Pioneer Hotel, which Mauritson built around 1887. Mauritson ran the hotel until his death in 1904 and his widow, Elizabeth, until her death in 1941.

Sheep Ranch Mine

The Sheep Ranch mine was the main mine of Sheep Ranch, first worked in 1868. Senator George Hearst, father of William Randolph, had an interest in the mine from 1877 until sold in 1898. The mine operated under a number of company names until shut down by the government in 1942. By then the mine had reached a depth of 3,100 feet. The Sheep Ranch mine was the largest source of gold in the district and largest mine of the Sierra Nevada east gold belt.