Name of Plaque BAGBY
Location of Plaque, Highway / Road No., City and County Bagby check in, on Hwy 49 at Merced River in Mariposa County
Explain the Design of the Plaque and Base Black granite plaque mounted on a monument made of local rocks.
Date of Dedication April 1, 2006
Name of Dedicating Humbug NGH Leroy Lang, ECV Matuca Chapter 1849
Exact Wording of Plaque
From a vista point near the 1,156 long, 130 foot high bridge, completed in 1966,
the site of Bagby lies east under, and sometimes exposed beside, the back waters
of Lake McClure. Bagby’s history passed through three definite developmental
eras. From 1850 to 1859 it was the site for Thomas E. Ridley’s Ferry. Then a dam
and Fremont’s water-powered stamp mills were built there, and the place renamed
Benton Mills for his father-in-law. Later Benjamin A. Bagby built a hotel,
store, saloon, and boarding house on the north side of the river. When a Benton
Mills post office was to be established in Jun 30, 1897, authorities found that
a mining town in Mono County had prior claim to the name. Applicant N. C. Ray, a
mining man, promptly chose the title Bagby in honor of his friend.
Bagby’s subsequent history was integral with the importance of the Yosemite
Valley Railroad, 1907-45. At its demise, Bagby diminished to a fisherman’s
resort. When inundation threatened in the early 1960’s, Yosemite officials
arranged removal of a turntable, twin water towers, and the Bagby Station to the
Yosemite Pioneer Transportation Center at El Portal. Bagby’s remaining
structures and old bridge were razed in late 1966. Where a stamp mill thundered
and trains chugged, boaters now float. Among the first to launch a boat was B.
A. Bagby’s son, Everett.
Dedicated by Matuca Chapter E Clampus Vitus April 1, 2006 (6011) Credo Quia
Absurdum