page_title: Timbuctoo, California
section_title: Today
hierarchical_section_title: Timbuctoo, California / Today
caption_attribution_description: English: Timbuctoo This is a photo of a place or building that is listed on the California Historical Landmark listing in the United States. Its reference number is 320.
context_page_description: Timbuctoo is an unincorporated community in Yuba County, California. It lies northwest of Smartsville, at an elevation of 397 feet.
context_section_description: Timbuctoo is registered as a California Historical Landmark. While the general area of the "Timbuctoo Diggings" is inhabited, today it is considered by many to be a ghost town.  The town site is accessed by the much-neglected Timbuctoo Road, which crosses a stream gulch by bridge in two places, one east and one west of town, meandering in a loop back to Highway 20.  The western bridge buckled at the west end in 2008 and was unusable until replaced in 2014.  Just to the east of the western bridge lies the ruins of the town's last structure: the Stewart Brothers Store/Wells Fargo Office, erected in 1855.  Five miles west of the town on Highway 20 stands a historical marker.  According to the 5 Miles Marker, the structure was restored in 1928.  However, the plaque that once adorned the facade of the store/Wells Fargo office stated that it was restored in 1925.  Whatever the case, the building has since been destroyed.  Rumors that hordes of gold were still stored within the structure apparently motivated looters to tear down the walls in search of treasure.  Now collapsed, its brick and stone remains, topped by rusty pieces of the tin roof, can be seen behind a fence erected to protect it from further vandalism.
  The Timbuctoo Cemetery is still in use, and dates back to 1855.  It holds approximately 87 graves, most from the late 1800s and the early 20th century.  It is also fenced and gated to ward off vandals.
  Timbuctoo was once a minor tourist attraction, enjoying public awareness of its historical significance and widespread enthusiasm for preservation. Despite all of these factors in its favor, Timbuctoo remains today an example of a failed preservation effort.
caption: Stewart Brothers/Wells Fargo ruins.
exif: {}