Old Groveland Schoolhouse

The original schoolhouse was likely built in the late 1850s to 1860s on a hill between Big Oak Flat and Garrote. It was soon discontinued. The Old Schoolhouse was built around 1916 (though some pictures showing the schoolhouse are dated 1913). Could not find any date when building ceased being a schoolhouse. Now houses Yosemite Bank.

Margaret Simmons House

This Victorian house was built in either 1899 or 1900 by Edward Cobden for Margaret Simmons, a miner's widow and native of County Londonberry (some sources say County Cork) in Ireland. Margaret Lennan Coyle Simmons passed away in Jan 1929 at the age of 90. The house was restored and remodeled in 1998-1999 for the All Seasons Inn.

Groveland Jail

The Groveland Jail is down a small road from CA Hwy 120. The Jail dates back to the 1895-1902 era when it was used mostly to house drunks before they were sent to Justice Court. The jail and its grounds fell on hard times after 1930 and were a mess when the Pine Mountain Lake Garden Club adopted the jail house area for a garden project in 1992.

Justice Court and Library

This concrete block structure was originally built as a store to meet the demands of the Hetch Hetchy project in 1918 for Frank Cassaretto. In the mid-1920s, Frank rented the store to a succession of grocery stores until 1959. Tuolumne County acquired the building for the Justice Court and Library, which continued to operate until the 1990s. The building now houses the Groveland Community Center.

Cassaretto Home

During the 1898 economic boom of the nearby hard rock mines, Louis Cassaretto hired carpenter Edward Cobden to design and build a seven bedroom home just west of his store.

Cassaretto Building

Not sure what the name of the original building was, but the curb has the name of "Cassaretto" in front of this building. Originally built in 1921, a serious fire in 1933 leveled this building and the one to its west. It was rebuilt and then destroyed again in 1989. It was rebuilt again.

Casmir Reboul's Trading Post

Frenchman Casmir (Casimir) Reboul built his adobe trading post circa 1850, making it one of the oldest buildings in Groveland. An adobe brick had the imprint of a dog's foot with the date of 1849. Reboul ran his trading post until 1872 when he sold it to Luigi (Michael) Noziglia (born 1847). Noziglia had lost his Big Oak Flat business in the 1863 fire. Noziglia married into the Cassaretto family in 1874, but died soon afterward in 1875. Rosa Cassaretto Noziglia needed assistance running the store, so her young brother Louis came over from Italy to help. In 1878, Louis became the store's owner. The building was known as Cassaretto's Store for many years. For a time, the building was also a stage stop. In the 1930s, the Cassaretto family began to lease out the building to a series of markets (Pigg's Market, Ken's Market, Tiano's Market, Red and White Grocery).

Hotel Charlotte

Hotel Charlotte was built on the site of an old livery stable by Charlotte DeFerrari in 1918. Three years later, Charlotte purchased the next door Gem Saloon and annexed it to her hotel as a restaurant. She retired in 1948. Down the alley to the right (east) of the hotel was the location of the hanging tree that gave Garrote its name.

Ferretti Butcher Shop

This adobe building was originally erected by John Watts and James Tannahill (1824-1884, native of Scotland) circa 1851. During the 1860-70s, Masonic Lodge #107 owned the upper floor. The upper floor was later used by the Oddfellows. Salvador Ferretti (b. 1871) had his butcher shop in this building until a fire in 1920 destroyed the shop. He opened a new butcher shop just to the west.

Iron Door Saloon

The Watts and Tannahill building was first built as the Granite Store by Peter King and started operations as a general mercantile store with the obligatory "plank over four barrels" (so as to serve booze to thirsty miners) in 1852. The store was so named as the front and back walls were built of solid granite blocks, the only building in Tuolumne County using granite rather than the usual slate rock. The side walls were made of rock and mortar while the roof consisted of three-foot sod covered by tin. James Tannahill bought the Granite Store in the 1860s and ran the Garrote's post office (with him as postmaster) out of the store until 1880. Giacomo DeFarrari bought the store in 1896 and converted it to a full-fledged saloon he named "Jake's Place." A second story was added in 1937 and the establishment was renamed "The Iron Door Saloon" for the hefty English-made iron doors which had been hauled across the Tuolumne River by way of Wards Ferry.

Groveland historical landmark

The Groveland historical landmark is located across Hwy 120 from the Groveland Hotel.

Groveland Hotel

Groveland Hotel is the largest adobe building in Groveland. It was built in 1849 by George Reed (Reid), a prominent Gold Rush sawmill operator for Joshua D. Crippen and Co. It first served as a trading post and dwelling house until 1865. Reed bought the property in 1851 and sold it to Matthew Foote in 1866. Foote converted the building into the Garrote Hotel. The hotel was renamed Groveland Hotel when the town changed its name in 1875. From 1878 to 1990, the hotel was owned by no less than 12 people or companies. Groveland Hotel was notorious in the 1910s and 1920s for its parties and dances. It became a sporting house, which included gambling, drinking, and a bull pen with working girls under one roof. In 1927, a fellow named Lyle passed away in room 15 (now room 107). His ghost is said to still be in that room. Groveland Hotel also served as a Greyhound bus stop in the 1940s. The hotel close in 1950 and was intermittently re-opened in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The hotel was in foreclosure in 1986. It was sold in 1990 and a million dollar restoration undertaken in 1992.

Unknown Ruin

Located next to a creek near where Old Hwy 120 meets Hwy 120, we suspect this unknown ruin could be the remains of Mueller's Brewery. Mueller's Brewery was built by Ferdinand Stachler in 1853 and sold in 1865 to Eugene Mueller, a native of Germany. When Mueller died on November 8, 1906, his brewery ceased to function and local farmers stopped raising barley.

Divide (Oak Grove) Cemetery

The Divide Cemetery was established in 1852 between the Gold Rush towns of Big Oak Flat and Garrote (later Groveland). Over the years, the cemetery has been called St. John's Cemetery (after the original owner of the property), the Protestant Cemetery, the Oddfellows Cemetery, and (currently) Oak Grove Cemetery.

Unknown IOOF Gravestone

The Divide Cemetery mislabeled the gravestone as belonging to Charles M Rothe, but the translated German on the reverse states that it was "erected by C. M. Rothe." Couldn't quite make out the name on the front of the gravestone.