Editing Oakhurst, California (section)

==History==

===Native people===
[[File:Oakhill Cemetery Mariposa War Skeane S Skeenes Grave Marker.jpg|thumb|Skeane S. Skeenes, first militia casualty of the [[Mariposa War]], buried at Oakhill Cemetery, Oakhurst.<ref name="Madera County Cemetery District">{{Cite sign |title=Madera County Cemetery District |year=1970 |type=Grave marker plaque |publisher=Madera County Cemetery District and the Madera and Merced County Supervisors |location=Oakhill Cemetery, [[Oakhurst California|Oakhurst, California]]}}</ref>]]
Oakhurst was a common meeting ground for the [[Miwok]]s, [[Yokuts]], and [[Mono people|Monos]]<ref>{{Cite sign |title=Fresno Flats Historical Village and Park |year=2022 |type=Display outside museum |publisher=Madera County Historical Society |location=[[Oakhurst California|Oakhurst, CA]]}}</ref> before the time of the [[California Gold Rush]].

Many Native Californians were displaced by white settlers following the enactment of the [[Act for the Government and Protection of Indians]] in 1850. This act facilitated the removal and displacement of Native Californian Indians from their traditional lands, and led to the [[Mariposa War]], the first battle of which was fought near present-day Oakhurst on January 11, 1851.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coate |first=William S. |date= 1992 |title=Pieces of the Past: Madera County Vignettes |location=Madera, California |publisher=The Classroom Chronicles Press |page=137}}</ref><ref name="Madera County Cemetery District"/> By June 1851, most Native Americans in the region had been relocated to the Fresno River Farm Reservation, opening the region to the first permanent white settlers.

===Fresno Flats===
[[File:Fresno-Flats-Madera-County.jpg|thumb|Fresno Flats, circa 1900.]]Oakhurst's existence began in 1858 as "Fresno Flats," named for the Spanish word for [[Fraxinus|ash trees]] and flat, a colloquial term for a mountain meadow.

Unlike most nearby towns along what is now the [[California State Route 49|Golden Chain Highway.]], Fresno Flats was not founded due to the discovery of precious metals in the nineteenth century.<ref>{{cite news |title=Highway '49 Most Scenic In State |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19680724.2.41&srpos=18&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22golden+chain+highway%22-------1 |work=Madera Tribune |volume=77 |number=51 |date=24 July 1968 |access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref>

John Robert Nichols, a rancher, was likely the first Anglo settler in Fresno Flats in 1858.<ref>{{cite news |title=JAMES NICHOLS PASSED AWAY Cattle Rancher of Fresno Flats Dies |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19430318.2.63&srpos=10&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22oakhurst%22+%22fresno+flats%22-------1 |work=Madera Tribune |volume=LI |number=16 |date=18 March 1943 |access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref> Others joined him, raising livestock and planting orchards, establishing the area permanently. Post-gold rush, the first Chinese family settled by a creek flowing into the Fresno River. As more Chinese families used it, the creek was named China Creek, which remains its name.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oakhurst Was 'Fresno Flats' |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19620925.2.162&srpos=8&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22oakhurst%22+%22fresno+flats%22-------1 |work=Madera Tribune |volume=71 |number=94 |date=25 September 1962 |access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref>

Fresno Flats opened its first post office in 1873.<ref name=CGN /> The following year, the [[Madera Sugar Pine Company|Madera Flume and Lumber Company]] started building a [[log flume]] by the Fresno River, sparking the local timber industry. By 1876, a wagon road from [[Madera, California|Madera]] to [[Yosemite]] was complete, shifting the area's main economic focus to tourism. Fresno Flats grew into a key station on this road to Wawona, boasting hotels, stores, a blacksmith, a skating rink, a dancehall, a schoolhouse, and saloons by 1884.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coate |first=William S. |date= 1992 |title=Pieces of the Past: Madera County Vignettes |location=Madera, California |publisher=The Classroom Chronicles Press |page=155}}</ref> The first school, made of logs, was built in 1871, and by 1884, it had an average attendance of 26.9 students with one teacher.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oakhurst: From Cattle Stop To Modern Day City |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19640929.2.141&srpos=2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-fresno+flats+oakhurst+name+change-------1 |work=Madera Tribune |volume=73 |number=97 |date=29 September 1964 |access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref>

===Name change===
Fresno Flats lost its name in 1912 after a resident secretly petitioned the town be renamed over fear that the town's reputation was forever tarnished because of a local stagecoach robbery.<ref>{{cite news |title=FRESNO FLATS WILL BE CHANGED TO OAKHURST New Postmaster Appointed; Town Will Be Dry After April 1 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=FHD19120308.2.15&srpos=3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22oakhurst%22+%22fresno+flats%22-------1 |work=Fresno Evening Herald |volume=XLVI |number=59 |date=8 March 1912 |access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref> The town was renamed Oakhurst by an Act of Congress that took most people in town by surprise.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oakhurst Faltered, Refused To Die |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19570924.2.149&srpos=3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-fresno+flats+oakhurst+name+change-------1 |work=Madera Tribune |volume=66 |number=112 |date=24 September 1957 |access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref>

===Highway Era===
Oakhurst's decline started with the mining industry collapse, the end of stagecoach travel to Yosemite, and the 1931 closure of the [[Madera Sugar Pine Company]]. The [[California State Route 140|All-Year Highway]], opened in 1926, rerouted Yosemite bound auto traffic via California State Route 140 through Merced, further reducing visitor numbers and economic activity in Oakhurst. A new highway route to Yosemite came to fruition in the 1930s with the Fresno-Yosemite road, known today as [[California State Route 41]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Route 41 (Fresno-Yosemite Road) - Coarsegold, CA |publisher=Living New Deal |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/sites/route-41-fresno-yosemite-road-coarsegod-ca/ |access-date=2024-01-15}}</ref> This route shortened the trip from Fresno to Yosemite Valley by 35 miles.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tunnel Road is Now Open |newspaper=Madera Tribune |volume=LXI |number=139 |date=1933-04-17 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19330417.2.19&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-oakhurst+wawona+tunnel------- |access-date=2024-01-15}}</ref>

Over 1.2 million people annually enter Yosemite National Park through its south gate, predominantly passing through Oakhurst on Highway 41. Tourism significantly affects Oakhurst, especially during summer. This season sees the highest traffic on Highway 41, full hotel occupancy, and a peak in jobs serving visitors, including lodging, dining, retail, and transportation services. The total sales for accommodation and food services in 2017 were $36.5 million dollars.<ref name="Oakhurst CDP, California">{{cite web |title=Oakhurst CDP, California |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/oakhurstcdpcalifornia |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=January 20, 2024}}</ref> In contrast, these activities and related employment decrease in winter due to reduced off-season activities in Yosemite and surrounding areas.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oakhurst Area Plan |publisher=Madera County Board of Supervisors |date=2005-09-13 |url=https://online.encodeplus.com/regs/maderacounty-ca-oap/doc-viewer.aspx?secid=20#secid-20 |access-date=2024-01-15}}</ref>

===Sierra On-Line===
The pioneering [[PC game|computer game]] developer [[Sierra Entertainment|Sierra On-Line]] was based in Oakhurst from 1981 to 1999.<ref>{{cite news |last=Nax |first=Sanford |date=September 27, 1999 |title=Company Stays in Game. Oakhurst Software Company Workers and the County Team Up to Save Jobs |work=Fresno Bee}}</ref> The company achieved many industry firsts, including the development of the first [[3D computer graphics|3D]] [[adventure game]] (''[[King's Quest]]'', 1984) and one of the first online gaming networks (''[[ImagiNation Network|The Sierra Network]]'', 1989).