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Shands

Ghost town · Nevada County, California

Alleghany quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1949, 1:24,000)
Alleghany quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1949, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Shands is a ghost town in Nevada County, California. It is one of 28 former communities in Nevada County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 8th among the 58 California counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Shands as a historical populated place on the Alleghany topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 39.4252° N, 120.7808° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleAlleghany
Elevation4,619 ft
Nearest living townGraniteville, CA
Distance to it2.7 miles
GNIS feature ID1682965
Coordinates39.42518, -120.78077

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Shands is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Graniteville, CA (population 15), about 2.7 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 4,619 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Shands?

Shands is in Nevada County, California, at 39.4252, -120.7808.

How many ghost towns are in Nevada County?

Nevada County, California has 28 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.