Masonic, California

Masonic, California, is one of my favorite ghost towns to take friends and family. It is relatively easy to reach in summer and fall and combines well with the best ghost town anywhere, Bodie. Unlike Bodie State Park, Masonic is in “the wild,” you will likely have the ghost town to yourself.
Masonic, which started as three towns, has many ruins, including stone cabins, an aerial tram and a Pittsburg-Liberty mill.

The Freemasons

In 1860 a group of Freemasons found gold 10 miles northeast of Bridgeport. They named the area Masonic after their order, but larger strikes in the region drew them away and the claims remained undeveloped. In 1900, 16-year-old Joe Green from nearby Bodie rediscovered Masonic and founded the Jump Up Joe Mine. He had no capital to work the mine so he sold the claim.

Independence Day

July 4th, 1902 partners John Stuart Phillips, Caleb Dorsey and John M. Bryan struck gold. They named the mine Pittsburg-Liberty Mine in honor of Phillips’ hometown and Independence Day. “Pittsburg” was not spelled with an “H” then.

The three Masoincs

Initially, Masonic consisted of three separate towns: Upper Town, Middle Town and yes, you guessed it, Lower Town. The three towns eventually combined under the single name of Masonic.

Upper Town

Upper Town, originally Lorena, had mine offices and first post office opened in 1905. The post office name was officially changed to Masonic in 1906.

Middle Town

Middle Town held a hotel, store, stage station, school post office. Unlike many towns at the time there were no churches, fraternal groups or brothels. Ironically, there was never a Masonic Lodge in Masonic.

In contrast to the reputations of nearby Bodie and Aurora, Masonic was known for being a law-abiding, peaceful town.

Lower Town

The Pittsburg-Liberty Mine, previously named Caliveda, was in Lower Town.

In 1907 the Pittsburg-Libery Mill opened a 10-stamp mill in Lower Town. An aerial tramway was constructed to transport ore from the mines to the mill. Today a tram tower sits on the hill south of the mill. Below in the pine and aspen trees, the cable lays where it fell.

In 1909 Pittsburg-Liberty mine owner John Phillips fell to his death in a mine shaft. It is not known if this was an accident or murder. Soon after, the ore vanished. The mine sold multiple times but the pockets of gold were exhausted. The post office closed in 1927. Sporadic attempts at mining were made through the 1950s-60s with limited success.

A local legend holds that Phillips’ ghost haunts the mine at nearby Chemung… but only on Saturday night!

Masonic and Chemung was Rubi’s first trip! (she later picked the name, Honey Badger). Hubby and I went with friends Stephen and Michael. Thank you Stephen for sharing your historical mining knowledge. We made a loop from Bridgeport to Chemung, Masonic and Elbow. We planned on visiting Aurora but ran out of daylight.

In 2022, I led a Ghost Towns & Treats birthday trip with my ladies.

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References

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References

• Destination 4×4: Masonic California
• Ghost Towns: Masonic
• Massey et al. California Trails: High Sierra Region. Adler Publishing, 2006 Pages 159-163.
• Paher, Stanley. Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps. Nevada Publications, 1970. Pages 474-475.
• Western Mining History: Masonic, California
• Wikipedia: Masonic, California

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