Pine Mountain Lake history

California achieved statehood in 1850.

By 1852, post offices were established in Big Oak Flat and Garrote, and a constable, judge, and tax collector had been appointed.

In 1854, the miners began building a “ditch” to bring water from the South Fork of the Tuolumne River to Big Oak Flat in order to provide a reliable year-round source of water.

In 1855, in response to concerns about the future of mining in the region, a group of concerned miners formed the Golden Rock Water Company.

The ditch was 40 miles long and delivered its first drop of water in March, 1860.

All the tremendous growth and prosperity came to an abrupt halt in October, 1863 when the entire town went up in flames.

The population plummeted to a handful of stalwarts and the town was dis-incorporated in 1864.

In July of 1868, to the surprise of no one, the greatly celebrated flume collapsed.

The Golden Rock Ditch remained operational until the mid 1870’s, but the structure was largely ignored for the remainder of the century.

Big Oak Flat was nearly non-existent for 10 years until the construction of the first road into Yosemite Park commenced in 1874.

In honor of a town in Massachusetts, Garrote was changed to Groveland in 1875 (a community just a couple miles up the highway is still known as Second Garrote, where another hanging was reported to have taken place).

After turning their focus to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in search of a sufficient water supply, the City purchased the rights to Hetch Hetchy Valley and Lake Eleanor in 1901.

By 1906, as a result of the new deep shaft mining techniques, Groveland and Big Oak Flat had at least three stamp mills in operation, averaging twenty stamps each.

The Yosemite Power Company purchased the rights to the ditch in 1910, but in less than a decade had abandoned the ditch west of Hamilton Station (later Buck Meadows).

In 1913 the United States Congress passed the Raker Act, giving the City and County of San Francisco the right to dam the Tuolumne River at the Hetch Hetchy Valley.

Construction on the Hetch Hetchy system began in 1914, and the economic slow down in Groveland and Big Oak Flat soon subsided.

A small powerhouse at Early Intake generated electricity with water from Lake Eleanor, finally providing Groveland full electricity in 1918.

The O’Shaughnessy Dam was dedicated in 1923.

In 1925, the construction headquarters were moved from Groveland to Hetch Hetchy Junction, bringing to a close the prosperous Hetch Hetchy era.

After a public hearing, the County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution establishing the “Groveland Sanitation District” on June 26, 1944.

Local hotels and restaurants welcomed weary travelers on their way to Yosemite, and in 1952 the Big Oak Flat Road was renamed Highway 120.

On August 19, 1953, the Groveland Community Services District was officially established as a special District.

In 1964 Groveland residents voted overwhelmingly to accept a thirty-year, low-interest construction loan from the State of California under the Davis-Grunsky Act.

Pine Mountain Lake was originally built in 1969 by Boise Cascade.