Monoville is a former settlement in Mono County

Mono County, California

Mono County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California, to the east of the Sierra Nevada between Yosemite National Park and Nevada. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,202, up from 12,853 at the 2000 census...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It was located about 12 miles (19 km) south-southeast of Bridgeport

Bridgeport, California

Bridgeport is a census-designated place that is the county seat of Mono County, California. It lies at an elevation of 6463 feet in the middle of the Bridgeport Valley. Bridgeport is located at the intersection of highways US 395 and State Route 182. The population was 575 at the 2010...

.

In 1859, gold was discovered at Monoville. A conduit was constructed to divert water from Virginia Creek to aid hydraulic mining

Hydraulic mining

Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold.-Precursor - ground...

operations. This canal, termed the Mono Canal, was at its time the only such project in the county, and cost $75,000 to build.

A post office operated at Monoville from 1859 to 1862. At its peak, Monoville had a population over 1,000. By 1868, however, the town was abandoned and such buildings as remained were in ruins by neglect and lack or repair after heavy snowfalls.