Editing California, Missouri (section)

==History==
The City of California was established in 1834. The seat of justice of Moniteau County was originally known as Boonesborough.<ref>{{cite news|title=Disappearing Missouri Names |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/861825/missouri_toponyms/|newspaper=The Kansas City Star|date=March 19, 1911|page=15|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = August 15, 2014 }} {{Open access}}</ref> When Moniteau County was organized in 1845, it was decided that Boonsborough would become the county seat. Because the county court was unwilling to pay for land in Boonsborough, a site was selected one-mile (1.6&nbsp;km) west which became the new county seat. In 1846, the Postal Service required a new name to be selected for Boonsborough since there was already a Boonsborough in Missouri. The city was renamed to California on January 25, 1847, for the [[History_of_California#American_period|territory]] on the West Coast that was just then drawing attention due to progress of the overland railroad.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ | title=How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named | publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri | author=Eaton, David Wolfe | year=1917 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ/page/n106 333]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbyjamQWtScC&pg=PA27 | title=Our Storehouse of Missouri Place Names | publisher=University of Missouri Press | author=Ramsay, Robert L. | year=1952 | pages=27| isbn=9780826205865 }}</ref> That same year, a courthouse was erected on the square.

California was incorporated in 1848 and elected its first city officials in 1858, 10 years later.

The ''Weekly California News'' printed its first edition on September 18, 1858, and is Moniteau County's oldest established business still in operation. Today, it is known as the ''[[California Democrat]]''.

By the end of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], California's population was around 1,000. The city had ten dry goods stores, two drug stores, a tobacco factory, a large steam flouring mill and [[carding]] machine, a high school, a printing office, and a bank.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

In 1867, money was appropriated for a new courthouse, which was completed in 1868 and is still in use today.<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.com/~momonite/californiahistory.htm History of California from ''Moniteau County, Missouri History'']</ref>