Editing Oakhurst, California (section)

===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>