Historical Events of Swansboro/Mosquito

SWANSBORO COUNTRY, IS A SUBDIVISION OF THE COMMUNITY OF MOSQUITO


The Community of Mosquito was a thriving community in the early years of its existence. It had a major saw milling business. The farmers of Mosquito raised a particularly fine grade of hard wheat. The Mosquito School District was established, as well as, a Post Office. As time passed by, the saw milling and wheat business faded. The School District was absorbed by Placerville Union and the Post Office closed down. Now with the present Swansboro Subdivision’s in place, it has become a mountainous bedroom community. Prior to the California Gold Rush, there was a large Miwok Indian colony in the area.

1849: By this time, mines had been discovered in Mosquito Canyon, most of the population settled in two different locations, one being Nelsonville, the other called Lowertown or Big House.

1853: The area was officially named The Community of Mosquito.

1862: The Mosquito School was started by Oliver Chubb.

1867: The swinging bridge, on Mosquito Road, over the South Fork of the American River, was built. It allowed access from Placerville to the Community of Mosquito. It is still in existence and used daily as the main route to and from the area. It is a county historical landmark.

1881: The Mosquito Public School District was established, as well as the Mosquito Post Office. Both are no longer in existence.

1905: The Swansborough family bought the Dickenson’s house. It had also been the location of the Post Office, run by the Postmistress Mrs. Dickenson.

1907: Finnon Lake, a state owned park, was created. It is no longer a state park, and is owned and operated by the Mosquito Volunteer Fire Department.

1911-1915: A phone line was constructed from Placerville to Mosquito. Mosquito was also one of the first areas in El Dorado County to have electric power.

1926: The current Swansborough house, was built on the location of the one purchased from the Dickenson’s - which had burned down in 1924.

1934: A large Civilian Conservation Corps Camp was located in Mosquito, with 200 or more boys at a time in it. The camp was operated by the U.S. Army and the United States Forest Service personnel. The U.S.F.S. had a watchman at Camp Mosquito for a few years. Then, during World War II, the camp housed conscientious objectors who acted as U.S.F.S. fire crews, with no pay, during the fire seasons.

1937: The Civilian Conservation Corps completed Rock Creek Road. Prior to that time, the only way to Placerville was via Mosquito Road.

1943 - 1960’s: A large sawmill was operated on the Pearson property, receiving logs from the National Forest and private properties as far away as Bishop, California. There were also portable mills operating in the area during these years.

1968: The Swansboro Subdivision was started, with the property being purchased by W & D Investment Co. from Ronald Darr, the Morton Family, Ray Lawyer, and the Swansborough families.

1970’s to 2009: From the time of the filing of the subdivision’s units, many homes have been built. There are still many remaining vacant parcels. Homes range from being built in the 1970’s through today, as various homes are currently under construction. There is a wide variety of homes, built by various builders, as to square footage and building style.


How did this area become to be know as Mosquito? Well, the story goes like this:

Some miners were sitting around their campfire one night, discussing things in general, and at one point the topic turned to thoughts on giving a name to the area in which they lived. They thought for it a bit, and one miner came up with the idea that the next word anybody said aloud, would be the name to be used. At that minute, someone slapped his arm and blurted “Those damn mosquitoes”, and they couldn’t call it “Damn”, could they?

All Historical accounts of the above, are as told by Lois Pearson, (Born in Mosquito in 1916 and lived there her entire life) per the Book entitled Mosquito Memories.