Fresno Flats Historical Park – Oakhurst, California
Stroll through the lifestyle of the 19th century in the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains of Central California. This area was at the southern end of the Mother Lode gold fields, but the people that came here to settle weren’t out for the gold that would fizzle out in time but to build a life, raise their families, make the living as farmers, merchants and creating a community.
The museum complex is built around two restored and furnished homes dating to the 1870’s. The construction style was common throughout Northern California in those days but is virtually unknown today. Added to these structures was a pair of early day one room schools, two 19th Century jails and several other farm buildings.
The first two story house in Fresno Flats was built in 1878 by Robert Laraore. The home was the center for social and political activities in the area. The authentic 19th Century furnishings reflect life as it was at the time. By today’s standards, the house is unique in that it was built with no studs, just 1 x 12 inch boards standing straight u for two stories with 1 x 12 inch shiplap siding nailed to them. Corners are pegged. Although todays building inspectors would have a fit the building has stood for more than a century and a quarter, including being moved intact a half mile to its present location.
The Raymond Jail from 1890 housed drunks and other minor offenders well into the 20th century. Built with 2 x 6 inch boards laid flat and tied together by heavy spikes at the corners it shows the standard construction for jails at this time. With a heavy door and barred windows high in the walls there weren’t many escapes.
A 1914 homesteader’s log barn houses a lumber exhibit while the red barns which once served the Laramore home, now hold a recreated blacksmith shop and an agricultural exhibit.
The Taylor Log House is the centerpiece of the park, built in the year 1870 it is the oldest building in the complex. The so-called “two-pen, dogtrot” design, which was once common throughout Northern California where timber was readily available with its simple construction consists of two rooms, separated by a breezeway (dogtrot). Once side was a kitchen/dining room/family room and the other the parent’s bedroom, each heated by a fireplace. Children slept overhead in an unheated attic that ran the full length of the house, accessible only by a ladder in the breezeway.
The Cunningham School from 1913 and serving the area for half a century was seat of learning for generations of young people. The school is now used as a meeting place. The other one room school contains a wide variety of exhibits for your enjoyment.
Directions: To reach the park from downtown Oakhurst turn east off Hwy 41 on to Road 426, Crane Valley Rd. Go approximately ½ mile to the stop sign, Turn left to Road 427, School Road and Fresno Flats is about a half mile further on the left.
Address: PO Box 451, Oakhurst, California 93644
Phone: 559-683-6570
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