FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How did Timbuctoo get its name?

There are several stories about how Timbuctoo got its name. The most popular is also likely the least probable. In this one, the first white miners arriving in the area found an African already at work “with pick and pan” and decided to name the place after the celebrated gold-rich town on the Dark Continent.

In another version, William Marple, a nearby storekeeper and part-time gold miner, suddenly found himself making more from his claim than from his full-time business, at which point the locals began calling him the “Sultan of Timbuctoo.”

It’s possible that Timbuctoo was named for the fabled West African city of Timbuktu, famous for its trade in copper, salt, and gold—and notorious as a “far-away place.”

It’s also possible that one of the companies of Forty-Niners arriving in the area named the new boomtown after a Timbuctoo in their own environs: Both New York and New Jersey have historic places named Timbuctoo, and many miners who ended up in the Timbuctoo, California, region were from New York and New Jersey.

For now, the exact origin of Timbuctoo’s name remains a mystery.

How big of a town was Timbuctoo?

Contemporary sources state that, at its height in 1859, Timbuctoo had a population of about 1,200 people. With this population came the usual number and kinds of businesses. Most sources agree that Timbuctoo, in its heyday, was the most populace place in eastern Yuba County.

How many people live in Timbuctoo today?

Around six people, if you’re counting only the living. The Timbuctoo Cemetery is the (final) home to many more. The first burial in the area occurred in 1849; the most recent, on record, occurred on 30 March 2024.

Are there any old buildings left in Timbuctoo?

Yes and no. The most famous structure, built in 1855 and known popularly as the Wells Fargo and Stewart Brothers store, is these days nothing more than a crumbled ruin. Another 1855 building, a slightly remodeled private residence, also stands. Another building people see on their tour of Timbuctoo, whose facade faces south, is actually a more recent structure built by a previous tenant to resemble a “gold rush” building.

How did you get interested in Timbuctoo?

In 2005 I was researching my genealogy and came across a reference to the town while reading one of my great-grandmother’s travel diaries. I’d never heard of this California town, and the name intrigued me, so one day I set off on my motorcycle to see if I could find it. I had a touristy map of the Gold Country for a guide. It was drizzling by the time I got to the Timbuctoo 5-mile marker. I drove on and took what I guessed was the correct road, off to the right of Highway 20.

After fighting my bike up a gravel road, I came to a place overlooking what seemed like the Yuba River. Down below was a flat place that could have once had room for a town; but there was nothing there—no foundations, no streets, no nothing.

I returned home with more questions than answers. How can an entire town just disappear? Why wasn’t there more information about it? (This was 2005, remember, and the internet wasn’t what it is now.) My curiosity piqued, I began researching.

I later found out that I had taken a wrong turn that drizzly day in 2005. I should have turned left instead of right. Then I would have seen the Wells Fargo building, and the one lone house, built in 1855. Yet, I believe to this day that if I’d found Timbuctoo on that drizzly day, I wouldn’t have been interested in researching it further.

Now a question for you …

Do you have questions about Timbuctoo? Ask them here! Depending on the question, I’ll either answer it directly or answer it directly and add it to this page.

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