La Panza, California facts for kids

La Panza is a fascinating ghost town located in San Luis Obispo County, California. It sits in the La Panza Range at an elevation of 1,880 feet (573 meters). The name "La Panza" means "The Belly" in Spanish. It comes from a Spanish word for a beef paunch, which Californio hunters once used to attract bears. This spot was first recorded in 1828 as paraje la panza, meaning "the paunch place."

History of La Panza: A Gold Rush Town

La Panza became a busy place in 1878. This was when people discovered "placer gold" in La Panza Canyon. Placer gold is gold found in flakes or nuggets in riverbeds. This discovery started a small "gold rush." A gold rush is when many people quickly move to an area hoping to find gold and get rich.

How La Panza Grew and Changed

Because of the gold rush, La Panza quickly grew into a "boomtown." A boomtown is a community that grows very fast due to sudden economic growth, like a gold discovery. The town even had its own post office. It operated from November 4, 1879, until June 15, 1908. After the gold became harder to find, people started to leave. This is why La Panza is now a ghost town.

La Panza Today: What Remains?

Today, only one old, worn-out building stands at the original site of La Panza. This building is on private property. However, you can still see it from Pozo Road. Even though the town is mostly gone, some people still work gold mining claims nearby. They look for both placer gold and "quartz mining" gold. Quartz mining means digging into rocks to find gold veins.