The land was once occupied by Konkow Maidu tribes.[2] In 1885, the town of Pulga was founded by William King, a sawmill owner and railroad geologist.[2][3] A post office was opened in 1906.[4] The area had attracted gold miners and miners of vesuvianite, also known as "Pulga Jade".[2] The town was always small, and peaked in size in the 1930s and 1940s with a few hundred people.[2] The Western Pacific Railroad's Feather River Route line ran through the town and offered Vista Dome cars, designed and built with the scenery on this route in mind.[2] By the late-1960s, this was no longer a train route and the mining business had dried up.[2][3]
In 1994, the William King estate sold the town property, on which the Mystic Valley Retreat and School of Hypnotism was erected; most of the buildings have fallen into disrepair.[2]
In 2015, the 64-acre (26 ha) town was purchased by Betsy Ann Cowley.[2][5] Crowley opened it as a feminist artist retreat and event venue, also named Pulga.[2][3]
In 2018, high tension lines near the Poe Dam, north of Pulga, were the cause of the Camp Fire. Two buildings in Pulga were destroyed and others were damaged.[6][7]
Geography
Pulga is at the mouth of Flea Valley Creek, which gives rise to the toponym.[4]
^ abDurham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 296. ISBN1-884995-14-4.
