Bagby (formerly Ridley's Ferry and Benton Mills) was an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Mariposa County Mariposa County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,131. The county seat is Mariposa. It is located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, north of Fresn ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It was located on the north bank of the

Merced River The Merced River (), in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and st ...

northeast of Hornitos, at an elevation of 830 feet (253 m).

Lake McClure Lake McClure is a reservoir in the Sierra Nevada foothills of western Mariposa County, California, United States. It is formed by the New Exchequer Dam impounding the Merced River, which is a tributary of the San Joaquin River. It is about east ...

covers the original town site. A ferry across the

, operated by Thomas E. Ridley, operated at the future site of Bagby during the 1850s. This was later followed by a stamp mill at the site, established by

John C. Fremont John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, who renamed the site Benton Mills. The name Bagby was chosen in 1897 when the post office was established, to avoid conflict with another town known as Benton Mills in

Mono County Mono County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. The county seat is Bridg ...

. A post office operated at Bagby from 1897 to 1951. The Bagby family operated a hotel and store along the

Yosemite Valley Railroad The Yosemite Valley Railroad (YVRR) was a Shortline railroad, short-line railroad that operated in California from 1907 to 1945, providing a new mode of travel and tourism for the region. It ran from Merced, California, Merced to the Yosemite N ...

at the site, where a power plant supplied electricity to the surrounding area. The power plant was destroyed by fire in 1922, and the townsite was destroyed when Exchequer Dam was completed in the 1960s. Some railroad-related structures from Bagby were relocated to El Portal when the town was inundated. Ruins of the townsite can still be seen when lake levels are low.

References

Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Mariposa County, California {{MariposaCountyCA-geo-stub