Misplaced Pages

#550449

32-578: The Hotel Léger , in Mokelumne Hill, California is one of the oldest hotels still operating in California . The hotel and courthouse building are registered as California Historical Landmark #663, and located in present-day Calaveras County, California . George Léger, a Frenchman who came during the California Gold Rush , opened his Hotel de France in 1851, as a wood-framed tent. Next door

64-526: A Superior Court and Sheriff (as an officer of the court ), both located in a designated "shire town". Bennington County, Vermont has two shire towns; the court for "North Shire" is in the shire town Manchester , and the Sheriff for the county and court for "South Shire" are in the shire town Bennington. In 2024, Connecticut , which had not defined their counties for anything but statistical, historical and weather warning purposes since 1960, along with ending

96-410: A county seat may be an independent city surrounded by, but not part of, the county of which it is the administrative center; for example, Fairfax City is both the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia and completely surrounded by Fairfax County, but the city is politically independent of the county. When the county seat is in the independent city, government offices such as the courthouse may be in

128-626: A major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s. There are 1,355 counties in Mainland China out of a total of 2,851 county-level divisions. In Taiwan , the first counties were first established in 1661 by the Kingdom of Tungning . The later ruler Qing empire inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of Han Chinese population in Taiwan,

160-475: A merchant). Soon after, gold was discovered in the nearby hills, so much so that miners were restricted to claims of 16 square feet (1.5 m ), and yet many of those claims were reported to have paid up to $ 20,000. By 1850 the town was one of the largest in the area. Its population reached as high as 15,000 with people of all nationalities, particularly Americans , Frenchmen , Germans , Spaniards , Chileans , Mexicans , and Chinese . Besides racial tensions,

192-480: A population of 646. The population density was 209.6 inhabitants per square mile (80.9/km ). The racial makeup of Mokelumne Hill was 571 (88.4%) White, 3 (0.5%) African American, 12 (1.9%) Native American, 4 (0.6%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 26 (4.0%) from other races, and 30 (4.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 66 people (10.2%). The whole population lived in households, no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters and no one

224-414: Is in California's 4th congressional district , represented by Democrat Mike Thompson . County seat In Canada , the provinces of Ontario , Quebec , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , and Nova Scotia have counties as an administrative division of government below the provincial level, and thus county seats. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia

256-409: Is known as the seat of its county. Generally, the county legislature, county courthouse, sheriff's department headquarters, hall of records, jail and correctional facility are located in the county seat, though some functions (such as highway maintenance, which usually requires a large garage for vehicles, along with asphalt and salt storage facilities) may also be located or conducted in other parts of

288-552: The Republic of China took over. There are 13 county seats in Taiwan, which function as county-administered cities , urban townships , or rural townships . In most of the United States , a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government

320-508: The Eastern Han dynasty , the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when the Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure; in other words, it

352-609: The Hotel Léger, and it has been in operation ever since. The bar, which features a stained-glass back bar with the date 1851 in it, reportedly came around Cape Horn and has been in continuous use. The former courthouse building was also the location of the county jail , and remnants of the jail cells can still be seen in the building's cellar. The hotel was refurbished by local volunteers in September 2012 for an episode of Travel Channel 's Hotel Impossible series. The episode featuring

SECTION 10

#1732855862551

384-741: The State Legislature had passed the Foreign Miners' Tax Act of 1850 . Frenchmen in the area revolted and refused to pay the tax. The Sheriff, also the Tax Collector, summoned a large posse to enforce the act, but the Frenchmen raised the French flag and proclaimed their independence. This prompted the Governor to direct a battalion of militia, commanded by William D. Bradshaw , to suppress the revolt. Disaster

416-935: The United States, followed by Towson , the county seat of Baltimore County, Maryland . Likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey , though unincorporated, is a section of Middle Township , an incorporated municipality. In some states, often those that were among the original Thirteen Colonies , county seats include or formerly included "Court House" as part of their name, such as Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia . Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in Alabama , Arkansas , Georgia , Iowa , Kentucky , Massachusetts , Mississippi , Missouri , New Hampshire , New York , and Vermont have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of

448-418: The county, especially if it is geographically large. A county seat is usually an incorporated municipality . The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia , where the county seat is the entire county. Ellicott City , the county seat of Howard County, Maryland , is the largest unincorporated county seat in

480-420: The county. Examples include Harrison County, Mississippi , which has both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats, and Hinds County, Mississippi , which has both Raymond and the state capital of Jackson . The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of civic pride for

512-591: The easy gold attracted criminal elements, and the town gained a reputation as one of the bawdiest in the area. Notorious bandit Joaquin Murrieta is said to have been a frequent visitor to the gambling venues. Violence was a major problem as well. In 1851, there was at least one homicide a week for seventeen consecutive weeks. A June, 1851, incident in Mokelumne Hill has been dubbed California's French Revolution , or French War , by some historians. The previous year

544-572: The hotel aired on January 7, 2013. It was also featured on an episode of Ghost Adventures on June 16, 2018. Mokelumne Hill, California Mokelumne Hill ( Mokelumne , Miwok for "People of the Fish Net") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 646 at the 2010 census, down from 774 at the 2000 census. It is commonly referred to as "Moke Hill" by locals. The town takes its name from

576-611: The independent city under an agreement, such as in Albemarle , or may in be enclaves of the county surrounded by the independent city, such as in Fairfax . Others, such as Prince William , have the courthouse in an enclave surrounded by the independent city and have the county government, the Board of Supervisors, in a different part of the county, far from the county seat. The following counties have their county seat in an independent city: Bedford

608-486: The neighboring Mokelumne River , which in turn is Miwok for the "people of Mokel," the likely name of a Native American village in the area. Mokelumne Hill was one of the richest gold mining towns in California. Founded in 1848 by a group of Oregonians , the placers were so rich that the miners risked starvation rather than head to Stockton to replenish their supplies (one finally did and made it rich by becoming

640-522: The new county seat in 1866, Mokelumne Hill's status declined even further. The town today is a quiet place, with much tourism due to its historic status. From 1959 to 1977 Mokelumne Hill was home to Lucile S. Davidson, known as "the shoe lady of Mokelumne Hill". She was in The Stockton 'Record' and later in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest privately owned glass shoe collection in

672-542: The number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. Protestant missionaries in China first romanized the term as hien . When Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the Japanese system in the period when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 prefectures ( 州 and 廳 ), which remained after

SECTION 20

#1732855862551

704-477: The owners and 94 (31.4%) by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 18.3%. 447 people (69.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 199 people (30.8%) lived in rental housing units. In the state legislature , Mokelumne Hill is in the 8th Senate District , represented by Democrat Angelique Ashby , and the 5th Assembly District , represented by Republican Joe Patterson . Federally, Mokelumne Hill

736-764: The state's area, has no borough government or borough seat. One borough, the Lake and Peninsula Borough , has its borough seat located in another borough, namely King Salmon in Bristol Bay Borough . In Louisiana , which is divided into parishes rather than counties, county seats are referred to as "parish seats". In New England , counties have served mainly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems. Rhode Island has no county level of government and thus no county seats, and Massachusetts has dissolved many but not all of its county governments. In Vermont , Massachusetts , and Maine county government consists only of

768-700: The term "shire town" is used in place of county seat. County seats in China are the administrative centers of the counties in the People's Republic of China . Xian have existed since the Warring States period and were set up nationwide by the Qin dynasty . The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under

800-416: The towns involved, along with providing employment opportunities. There are 33 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states: Alaska is divided into boroughs rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-borough governments (one of which is styled as a "municipality"). The Unorganized Borough, Alaska , which covers 49% of

832-607: The use of county seats in particular, will fully transition with the permission of the United States Census Bureau to a system of councils of government for the purposes of boundary definition and as county equivalents. Two counties in South Dakota , Oglala Lakota and Todd , have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county. Their county-level services are provided by Fall River County and Tripp County , respectively. In Virginia ,

864-532: The world. Mokelumne Hill is registered as California Historical Landmark #269. According to the United States Census Bureau , the CDP has a total area of 3.1 square miles (8.0 km ), over 99% of it land. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Mokelumne Hill has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate , abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. At the 2010 census Mokelumne Hill had

896-618: Was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.16. There were 174 families (58.2% of households); the average family size was 2.71. The age distribution was 102 people (15.8%) under the age of 18, 39 people (6.0%) aged 18 to 24, 119 people (18.4%) aged 25 to 44, 245 people (37.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 141 people (21.8%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 51.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males. There were 354 housing units at an average density of 114.9 per square mile (44.4/km ), of which 299 were occupied, 205 (68.6%) by

928-404: Was averted when Bradshaw negotiated with the Frenchmen to stand down. Also in 1851, the first post office was established in the town, and in 1852 the town became the county seat . In the same year a vigilance committee was formed and the worst of the crime was eliminated. By the 1860s the gold started to run out and the town's population and importance diminished. When San Andreas became

960-492: Was institutionalized. There were 299 households, 63 (21.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 129 (43.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 31 (10.4%) had a female householder with no spouse present, 14 (4.7%) had a male householder with no spouse present. There were 24 (8.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 5 (1.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 99 households (33.1%) were one person and 38 (12.7%) had someone living alone who

992-472: Was the Calaveras County Courthouse , as Mokulemne Hill was the county seat at the time. When the county seat was moved to San Andreas in 1866, Léger bought the court building and incorporated into his hotel. One reason was that it was made of stone and thus had survived two fires that had ravaged the town previously. After restoration following another fire in 1874, the hotel became known as

Hotel Léger - Misplaced Pages Continue

1024-574: Was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of a county was the magistrate , who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of the Qing dynasty . Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been

#550449