This is Main street looking...
This is Main street looking west. Main street is a grand total of three blocks long. Julian is quiet during the week, but swells with visitors on the weekends. If you can't find a place to park on Main street, you can park on one of the nearby residential streets and walk a block or two to get to Main. There's also a parking lot off of Fourth Street between B and C streets that charges a reasonable fee for all-day parking.
Julian, California is only a three-hour drive from the SoCal urban sprawl that's home to millions, but it's a whole different world once you get there. McDonald's is nowhere to be found. You won't find a mall. The one chain eatery that was there, Subway, has disappeared and has been replaced by a local purveyor of down-home cooking. Antique agricultural equipment, both the rustic and the rusty, adorns front yards and street corners. The agricultural implements on display share equally with multi-ton mining machinery in Julian's past and present.
Originally settled by southerners, both black and white, in the years following the U.S. Civil War, Julian was named after one of the town's original citizens, Mike Julian. The town bears Julian's name, but it was A. E. "Fred" Coleman, a former slave, who discovered the gold that put Julian on the map.
In 1869 Coleman, a ranch hand, was watering his horse in a creek when he saw shiny flecks in the water. Since he'd worked in the gold fields in northern California, he recognized the gold flakes for what they were, drew a skillet out of his pack, and began panning for gold. Coleman wasn't much for keeping secrets, and the word got out about Coleman's gold discovery. The rush was on.
The original gold rush was for placer gold. Placer gold is 'free' gold found by itself in rivers and streams in the form of dust, flakes, or nuggets. Eventually, the placer gold was diminished, and the hard-rock source of the gold was sought out. Hard-rock mines sprouted up around Julian, bringing industry and income to the town. A total of 39 mines were dug into the mountainsides near Julian. The Stonewall Mine, named after Confederate general Stonewall Jackson, was the richest gold producer of the group. During its operating years the Stonewall Mine produced a total of two million dollars' worth of gold.
In the thick of the mining era people began to recognize that the Julian area was also ideal for apple orchards. James Madison, originally from New York, arrived in 1867 and is credited with bringing the first wagonload of apple trees from central California to the Julian area. While mining was a boom-and-bust business, apple orchards were steady producers that catered to a growing demand.
The apple orchards saved the town. Most of the former mining towns in the western United States are shadows of their former selves. They're ghost towns. In contrast with the still-thriving apple orchards, mining ceased in the Julian area before WWII broke out. Today, Julian is home to about 300 full and part-time residents.
 The Julian Garage is now a...  The Julian Garage is now a souvenir shop, but the Julian Drug Store still sells medicine. Since this is a tourist town, you'll also find souvenirs and knick-knacks in the Julian Drug Store. We found several good trail guide books, maps, and local history books for sale inside. |  The other half of the Julian...  The other half of the Julian Drug Store building houses the Miner's Diner. Miner's Diner has an authentic old-time soda fountain inside and blends up all manner of tasty chilly treats, along with breakfast, lunch, and dinner entrees. You seat yourself. After your order is taken at the cash register, you're given a playing card. Listen up for the name of the playing card to be called, because that's how the Miner's Diner keeps track of who ordered what. A clever system. |  Famous apple orchards make...  Famous apple orchards make for famous apple pies. The line for Mom's Bakery went all the way out the door on this particular Saturday. |