The name Fiddletown is a colorful reminder of the gold rush era.

The town is said to have received its name because the earliest settlers from Missouri who founded the town, in 1849, enjoyed fiddling. The name Fiddletown was immortalized in a short story by Bret Harte entitled "An Episode of Fiddletown."

The name was a source of embarrassment for Judge Purington, an early resident of the town. On his annual trips to San Francisco and Sacramento, he was jokingly called "the man from Fiddletown." He was influential in having the name changed to Oleta by an act of the State Legislature in 1878. However, through the efforts of the California Historical Society, the old name Fiddletown was restored in 1932.

In the 1850s and 1860s, Fiddletown was the trading center for a number of rich placer mining areas including American Flat, American Hill, French Flat, Loafer Flat, Lone Hill and others.

In addition to local mining and trading operations, the town was also the site of a steam powered sawmill, built in 1853 by H. C. Farnham and James McLeod. The mill provided lumber from local forests for the many frame houses built in the area. Local brick was also manufactured for construction of a number of the town's early buildings.

Today, Fiddletown is a quiet rural community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The main street follows the creek winding through the narrow valley.

Excerpted from the NRHP nomination.

Fiddletown is also California Historical Landmark 35.