James Otterson built a public house near the line of the county road, close to today’s El Camino Real and California Avenue. It became known by common consent as Uncle Jim’s Cabin, and an 1881 history says it had “a wide reputation” among travelers in the days of stage travel.
Otterson also became Mayfield’s first postmaster in 1855. The cabin was later enlarged as a hotel, then moved across the street when the Mayfield Hotel was built on its site.