Originally called Centerville, the name of this early Gold Rush town was officially changed to Pilot Hill on April 18,1854, when the post office was established with Silas Hayes as its postmaster. There were three nearby villages: Pilot Hill, a…
Month: January 2013
Community Profiles – Omo Ranch
Some believe that Omo Ranch is named after a Miwok Indian village that had been located on this site. The name of the village was Omo, which some anthropologists think may have been an Indian word meaning “water.” Others disagree…
Community Profiles – Newtown
Although once a thriving mining community to the southeast of Placerville, time has reduced Newtown to just a few buildings and a host of memories. The history of Newtown goes back to the early days of the gold rush when…
Community Profiles – Negro Hill
Negro Hill, a town on the South Fork of the American River about one-tenth of a mile east of the Sacramento County line, is just one of many early California mining camps named for the miners of African-American descent. There…