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Mount Vernon

Ghost town · Sierra County, California

Downieville quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1951, 1:24,000)
Downieville quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1951, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Mount Vernon is a ghost town in Sierra County, California. It is one of 17 former communities in Sierra County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 17th among the 58 California counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Mount Vernon as a historical populated place on the Downieville topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 39.5296° N, 120.8163° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleDownieville
Elevation5,560 ft
Nearest living townDownieville, CA
Distance to it3.4 miles
GNIS feature ID1733174
Coordinates39.52962, -120.81633

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Mount Vernon is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Downieville, CA (population 174), about 3.4 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 5,560 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Mount Vernon?

Mount Vernon is in Sierra County, California, at 39.5296, -120.8163.

How many ghost towns are in Sierra County?

Sierra County, California has 17 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.