Many history books paint the incorrect picture that until Marshall picked up a few flakes of gold at Coloma in 1848, gold mining was unknown in the United States. But this is far from true. In Southern California, at…
Category: Community Profiles
Community Profiles – Georgetown, Part 2
The first school in Georgetown was taught in J. W. Slette’s store, one of the few buildings saved from the fire of 1852. Mrs. Dr. Ray was the first teacher. On May 22, 1854 the first Public School in town…
Community Profiles – Georgetown, Part 1
The first miners in the Georgetown area were a party of Oregonians led by a Mr. Hudson. They arrived in June of 1849 and, although they found deposits of gold at both “Hudson’s Gulch” and “Oregon Canyon,” for some reason…
Community Profiles – Garden Valley
During the early days of mining in California, it was very common to name communities after a person, a landmark, a local group of Native Americans or often even a hometown or state important to a group of settlers. But…