A church and schoolhouse, reportedly the first in what would become Amador County, were built as early as 1850-51. The church was Methodist Episcopal and built by P.Y. Cool. The site thrived for about a year, but when the mining in Volcano proved better, the site was largely abandoned, with only minor activity after that. Some miners and residents remained later in the decade. An 1857 story said that Fort John "retains more of the signs and characteristics of old Forty-Nine times than any other place in this section of California. You behold the log-cabin, with canvass roof; the clapboard palace with mud chimney emitting the savory perfumes of burnt slapjacks and beans straight, not forgetting the bountiful supply of oro that lines the pockets of the 'honest miners.' Everyone is proficient in the mysteries of poker and old sledge ..."