US Forestry Department

About forestry service, 94022, Los Altos, CA, US, California

Sonora is the only incorporated city in Tuolumne County, California, United States, of which it is also the county seat. Founded during the California Gold Rush by Mexican miners from Sonora (after which the city is named), the city population was 5,003 during the 2020 census, an increase from the 4,610 counted during the 2010 census. == History == Sonora was founded by Mexican miners during the California gold rush. Sonorans were alongside Chileans among the most experienced miners in the rush. Named after their home state of Sonora, Mexico, it was once a booming center of industry and trade in California's Mother Lode. Most of the gold removable with traditional mining techniques was quickly extracted, leaving miners to use more complex and expensive mining techniques to reach deep pockets of quartz and gold. Sonora as well as other mining towns of the era experienced economic hardship when the value of gold decreased. As "gold fever" died down, Sonora's size and population steadily decreased over the years. In c. 1851, the Sonora Hebrew Cemetery was formed by the Hebrew Benevolent Society and predominantly contains the graves of European-born Jews who emigrated to Gold Country. The Tuolumne County Museum and History Center preserves the town's Gold Rush legacy.