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French Lake
Former settlement
Coordinates: 39°25′14″N 120°32′27″W / 39.420556°N 120.540833°W / 39.420556; -120.540833
Country	United States
State	California
County	Nevada County

French Lake, California located in Nevada County, was a California Gold Rush community, now uninhabited. It was located by a lake of the same name.

Reservoir

French Lake
Southwest shore of French Lake, 2010
French Lake
Location	Nevada County, California
Coordinates	39°25′14″N 120°32′31″W / 39.42056°N 120.54194°W / 39.42056; -120.54194 (French Lake (lake))
Basin countries	United States
Surface elevation	6,676 ft (2,035 m)

French Lake Reservoir, at an elevation of 7500’-6680’, is part of a string of lakes, including Bowman Lake, Sawmill Lake, and Faucherie Lake to the northwest, as well as Meadow Lake and Fordyce Lake to the southeast. French Lake Road, used by the Nevada Irrigation District and not available for public use, skirts the lake's northwest perimeter before heading east to Meadow Lake Road. An unsigned road near the lake's southeastern banks veers northeast to Meadow Lake Road above English Mountain's now uninhabited Baltimore Town and Summit City in unincorporated Nevada County.

History

Prior to the Maidu, French Lake was inhabited by the Martis people, a now extinct Native American tribe. The Martis' Meadow Lake Petroglyphs (also known as 4-Nev-3) are a historical landmark.

In 1878, the world's first long-distance telephone line operated between French Lake and French Corral, California, 58 miles to the west, including the towns of North San Juan, and North Bloomfield on the phone route. The phone line was used to pass information regarding water flow from French Lake for post-California Gold Rush hydraulic mining.

References

1. "French Lake, Nevada County, California CA". lake-maps.us. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
2. sierraoutdoorrecreation
3. "French Lake". sierraoutdoorrecreation.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
4. "Pop place(s) in Nevada County, California". californiamaps.org. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
5. "Meadow Lake Petroglyphs ** (added 1971 - Site - #71000169)". nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
6. Brower, Maria E. (2006). Gold Rush Towns of Nevada County. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 0-7385-4692-5.
7. "French Corral Gold District". museumca.org. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved August 14, 2008.

External links

• Society of California Pioneers photo, ca. 1860-1870 at University of California Libraries

v t e Municipalities and communities of Nevada County, California, United States
County seat: Nevada City
Cities and towns	Grass Valley Nevada City Truckee
CDPs	Alta Sierra Floriston Graniteville Kingvale‡ Lake of the Pines Lake Wildwood North San Juan Penn Valley Rough and Ready Soda Springs Washington
Unincorporated communities	Cedar Ridge Chicago Park French Corral Gaston Gold Flat Higgins Corner Hills Flat Hirschdale Lake City Mooney Flat Norden North Bloomfield North Columbia Peardale Polaris Relief Willow Valley Wolf You Bet
Ghost towns	Alpha Badger Hill Baltimore Town Birchville Blue Tent Boca Boston Ravine Brass Wire Bar Bridgeport Camp Spaulding Chalk Bluff Cherokee Coyoteville Democrat French Lake Glenbrook Gold Hill Hobart Mills Hunt's Hill Iceland Indian Springs Kentucky Flat Little York Maybert Meadow Lake Moores Flat Newtown Omega Orleans Flat Red Dog Remington Hill Rose's Corral Sebastopol Shands Snow Point Snow Tent Spenceville Sweetland Town Talk Tsekankan Union Hill Ustoma Waloupa Wokodot Woolsey Flat Yamako
Footnotes	‡This CDP also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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• Former settlements in Nevada County, California
• Mining communities of the California Gold Rush
• Populated places in the Sierra Nevada (United States)
• Former populated places in California