Jacksonville was founded by farmer Julian Smart along the Tuolumne River at an elevation of 800 feet .

Smart named the town Jacksonville after Colonel A. M. Jackson.

The Tuolumne River provided water not only for the farms but the many 49 California Gold Rush mining operations in the region.

[1][2][3] A Jacksonville historical marker is on a Vista point on California State Route 120, 3.5 miles southeast of Chinese Camp, California.

The marker was placed there by the Sonora Rotary Club and Tuolumne County Gold Centennial Committee in 1950.