Holcomb Valley, California.
A short drive north of Big Bear Lake is Holcomb Valley and what little remains of the historic ghost town of Belleville. During the 1860s, Holcomb Valley was the richest gold-mining area in southern California, supporting some 10,000 residents.
Gold was first discovered here by William F. Holcomb in 1860. After Holcomb filed five gold claims, word spread fast, and prospectors rushed to the area. Before long, a gold camp sprang up east of where the gold was first discovered.
On a Fourth of July celebration, Mrs. Jed Van Dusen made a flag out of her petticoats. To honor her for her patriotism, the town was named after her daughter, Belle, the first child born in the camp.
San Bernardino Mountains, California
In the beginning, the route to Holcomb Valley was a difficult trek through the Santa Ana Canyon. In June 1861, Jed Van Dusen, a blacksmith, built a wagon road down the backside through Hesperia and the Cajon Pass at a cost of $1,500. Making it easier to access the camp, the settlement grew quickly and soon supported a store, two butcher shops, two laundries, a bakery, three carpenter shops, two blacksmiths, a stamp mill, and a sawmill. Of course, there were also the ever-present saloons and a place called the Octagon House where “painted ladies” danced and “entertained” men in small, dimly lit cubicles.
Belleville brought travelers into the camp by a regular stage, which took two days to reach San Bernardino. With the influx of miners also came the ever-present violence of Old West mining camps. By 1862, there had been 50 murders in Holcomb Valley. Soon, a large tree was designated as the hanging tree from which many men found their deaths at the end of a rope.
As more and more prospectors came to the area to hunt for gold and silver ore, the Bear Valley Mining District was founded. Initial mining for placer gold was primarily done by small groups or individuals with claims along stream beds. Soon afterward, quartz mining began, and the major mines were Mammoth, Olio, Pine Tree, and Metzgar. This hard rock mining required stamp mills to crush the rock, and several mills were built at different sites.
Belleville, California.
Though the Holcomb Valley gold rush was the largest in Southern California, it only lasted about a year. While limited mining continues, the Mother Load vein has never been found.
Today, Belleville is a hiker’s paradise with very little to show of its former glory days. There are a couple of old graves, some mining shafts, a simple cabin, and a few pieces of mining equipment lying about the area.
Currently, more than 2,000 claims are being worked on by hobbyist prospectors.
Belleville is located about eight miles north of Big Bear Lake City in the San Bernardino Mountains.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated August 2026.
Also See:
California Ghost Towns & Mining Camps
See Sources.