Founding and name Hornitos was settled in 1850 by Mexican miners who had been driven from nearby Quartzburg. The
California Office of Historic Preservation gives a similar account in its state landmark description, stating that the town was settled by people driven from Quartzburg and that other Quartzburg residents later moved to Hornitos as the placers at Quartzburg declined. Unlike most California Gold Rush settlements, Hornitos was laid out around a central plaza in the Mexican tradition. The name
Hornitos means "little ovens" in Spanish. The state landmark description says the name came from old Mexican stone graves or tombs built above ground in the shape of small bake ovens. The community's post office opened under the spelling "Hornitas" in 1856 and was renamed "Hornitos" in 1877. Hornitos developed during the same early Gold Rush period in which Mexican and other non-U.S. miners faced legal and social pressure in the California mining districts. The
Foreign Miners' Tax Act of 1850 imposed a $20 monthly fee on non-citizen miners and was enforced primarily against Mexican and Latin American miners; later foreign-miner taxes, beginning in 1852, were directed at Chinese miners.
Mining-era prominence As mining activity grew in the area, Hornitos became a service town for nearby mining camps and roads through the southern Mother Lode. The town's historic landmark description identifies it as the first and only incorporated town in Mariposa County. Mariposa County gives the date of incorporation as 1871.
Domingo Ghirardelli operated a store in Hornitos during the 1850s. Historic American Buildings Survey documentation states that Ghirardelli, an Italian-born confectioner and pioneer chocolate merchant of San Francisco and Stockton, built his Hornitos store in 1855 to serve the mining district and sold it in 1858 to concentrate on his San Francisco business. The ruins of the store remain in Hornitos. Hornitos is also associated with local legends about
Joaquin Murrieta. Later accounts describe stories of tunnels and hideouts in the town, although the same local-history accounts also note that many residents regarded those stories as legend rather than verified history.
Decline and disincorporation Hornitos declined after the richest placer-mining period ended and nearby mining and transport patterns changed. The town nevertheless remained incorporated until 1973, when it was disincorporated by state statute. A 2010 review of municipal disincorporation in California identified Hornitos as one of the few California municipalities disincorporated directly by statute. == Historic structures and landmark ==