Somersville, California
Encyclopedia
Somersville is an unincorporated ghost town
in eastern Contra Costa County
, California
. It is located 6 miles (10 km) north-northeast of Mount Diablo, at an elevation of 741 feet (226 m).
Somersville was founded in the 1850s by gold miners. The town is no longer populated and is within the boundaries of the East Bay Regional Park District
's Black Diamond Mines Regional Park. Somersville Road was named after the town; it is a major north-south arterial trunk road in the closest existing neighbor: Antioch
. Somersville's ruins contain a fairly extensive amount of graves in its cemetery, many of whom are dead miners who died in accidents in the coal mines. The Somersville mines are now sealed to prevent entry due to frequent incidents of people becoming lost inside them during the mid 20th century.
A post office operated at Somersville from 1863 to 1910. The name is in honor of Francis Somers, coal mine founder.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in eastern Contra Costa County
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is located 6 miles (10 km) north-northeast of Mount Diablo, at an elevation of 741 feet (226 m).
Somersville was founded in the 1850s by gold miners. The town is no longer populated and is within the boundaries of the East Bay Regional Park District
East Bay Regional Park District
The East Bay Regional Park District is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area...
's Black Diamond Mines Regional Park. Somersville Road was named after the town; it is a major north-south arterial trunk road in the closest existing neighbor: Antioch
Antioch, California
Antioch is a city in Contra Costa County, California. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, it is a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland. The city's population was 102,372 at the U.S...
. Somersville's ruins contain a fairly extensive amount of graves in its cemetery, many of whom are dead miners who died in accidents in the coal mines. The Somersville mines are now sealed to prevent entry due to frequent incidents of people becoming lost inside them during the mid 20th century.
A post office operated at Somersville from 1863 to 1910. The name is in honor of Francis Somers, coal mine founder.