Sonora Stories – City of Sonora

Tuolumne County High School, 1903-1915. Predecessor to Sonora High School.

January 12, 2026

High School, Historic, Tuolumne, Tuolumne County, Tuolumne County High School

Tuolumne County High School By Patricia Perry, Sonora City Historian Tuolumne County is one of the original twenty-seven counties in California, which included portions of San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. By 1872, its current boundaries had been established. Many small communities were established in Tuolumne County during the Gold Rush, with the largest being Columbia,…

Economic Development Survey– Take Now!

May 29, 2025

permits-cdd

The City of Sonora is launching a short community survey to gather public input for its 2026–2029 Economic Development Strategic Plan. The survey is now open and available online for all residents, workers, business owners, and frequent visitors to share their ideas, concerns, and hopes for the local economy. This 5–7 minute survey gives community…

The World Rushed In

November 24, 2014

Sylvia Alden Roberts

According to Enos Christman, editor of the Sonora Herald, the first newspaper in the Southern Mines, Sonora received more than its share of the unparalleled tide of cultural dissimilitude. In 1851 – using some of the derogatory terms that reflected the prevailing attitudes of the Gold Rush – Christman described the eclectic human potpourri as…

The County Fair

November 24, 2014

Ora Moss Morgan

(The Gold Dust is a compilation of the writings of Ora Moss Morgan Sonora, Ca 1933 – 1950) So we are going to have a County Fair – what a fine thing that will be _ exhibits of our country products – a horse show – with prizes and everything! Why – just the name…

Stagecoach Robbery Was Well Planned

November 24, 2014

Pat Perry

Sonora, like many of the old mining towns, had its share of stagecoach robberies. One that took place in November 1881, was described in the Tuolumne Independent. Early one Monday morning, at half past five o’clock, the stage on the Sonora and Milton line was stopped by four highwaymen, two miles this side of the…

Spanish Flu Called for Extreme Measures

November 24, 2014

Pat Perry

Sonora, like so many communities in the Fall of 1918, did not escape the deadly effects of the Spanish Influenza that raged through the country. Each week, The Union Democrat listed those who were sick, had recovered or had died from the dreaded disease. The deadly cases would begin with the flu and quickly turn…

So Long Ago

November 24, 2014

Mae Bromley McHahon

It seemed that I was in the bottom of the sea. The water was a deep, pretty green and swimming all around were many wiggling things. They were really quite beautiful because as they swan you would catch a glimmer of gold on their scales. It was a pretty place but I felt uncomfortable all…

Sonora Once Had a Seamier Side

November 24, 2014

Pat Perry

Like many Gold Rush communities, Sonora was known for its seamier side as well as for a more civilized society. Prostitution was practiced somewhat openly from the city’s founding until the 1950s when the federal government instructed the city fathers either to clean up the town or the federal government would. The first official reference…

The Patent Medicine Troupe

November 24, 2014

Ora Moss Morgan

It is a far cry from the frocked pharmacists of today to the medicine shows that rattled into town with their glitter and glamour in Sonora’s days of yesterday. Today’s remedies may be more scientific, but there certainly was greater lure in being charmed into the purchase of some nostrum by the silver tongue of…

Our Home

November 24, 2014

Mae Bromley McHahon

Our home was a white, two story house with a basement. It had twelve rooms with an attic along one side of the house. The attic was very dark and we imagined all kinds of bad creatures lived in there. When my folks sold the house, the man who bought it found a cache of…

City of Sonora

Queen of the Southern Mines

Tuolumne County High School, 1903-1915. Predecessor to Sonora High School.

Economic Development Survey– Take Now!

The World Rushed In

The County Fair

Stagecoach Robbery Was Well Planned

Spanish Flu Called for Extreme Measures

So Long Ago

Sonora Once Had a Seamier Side

The Patent Medicine Troupe

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