Placer County California
Placer County. Organized in 1851. Bounded north
by Nevada, east by the State of Nevada, south and southeast by
El Dorado and Sacramento, west and northwest by Sutter, Yuba and
Nevada, having great length and an irregular contour. Area,
1,386 square miles. Assessed valuation of property for 1874,
$6,781,966.
County seat, Auburn. Principal towns, Bath, Damascus, Cisco,
Colfax, Dutch Flat, Forest Hill, Gold Run, Iowa Hill, Lincoln,
Michigan Bluff, Newcastle, Rocklin, and Todd's Valley.
For many years gold mining constituted the principal resource,
but now agriculture, horticulture and grazing contend for the
precedence. This, like the neighboring counties of the western
slope of the Sierra, had its most prosperous times in the flush
days of placer mining, but as the shallow diggings were washed
away, the population became reduced. The wealth of the soil has
been proven, and now, fields, orchards and vineyards occupy the
abandoned ground to the permanent advantage of the country.
Mines of great value are still worked, and new developments are
constantly being made, showing a geological and mineralogical
formation not heretofore understood, and the importance of which
is scarcely appreciated. Dutch Flat and Gold Run are the centers
of deep and extensive hydraulic mining, and being near the
Central Pacific Railroad, are much visited by people interested
and curious to inspect the remarkable geological formation, and
the novel manner of tearing away a mountain of gravel and
extracting the gold from the mass. Todd's Valley, Bath, Iowa
Hill and Michigan Bluff, are similar localities on the divide
between the south and north Forks of the American River. In the
vicinity of Auburn and Newcastle are numerous quartz veins that
are mined with success, and in the same region, along the line
of the railroad, are extensive quarries of granite. The features
of the county are narrow and precipitous ridges and deep canons
in the upper portion, coming to a level in the Sacramento
Valley.
The Middle Fork of the American River forms the southern
boundary, receiving the North Fork and other branches, and Bear
River separates it from Nevada County. Lake Bigler occupies the
southeastern corner, and the Truckee River runs for some
distance in the county, turning eastward into the State of
Nevada. The Central Pacific Railroad runs for ninety miles in
Placer, ascending the mountain slope to an altitude of 7,000
feet in that distance, the route being on the north of the
American River. The California and Oregon Railroad has
thirty-eight miles of track in the county, running across the
valley portion. Thus it will be seen that it is well favored
with railroads, giving a fair opportunity for the development of
the resources, which, when fully understood, will attract hither
a large population.
Officers: J. Ives Fitch, County Judge; B. F. Burt, Clerk; John
M. Fulweiler, District Attorney; James McCormick, Sheriff; C. C.
Crosby, Recorder and Auditor; B. D. Dunnam, Treasurer: J. A.
Benson, Surveyor; M. Sweet, Coroner and Public Administrator; J.
T. Kinkade, Superintendent Public Schools.
California Gazetteer |
AHGP California
Source: Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1876-78, Compiled
by Henry G. Langley, San Francisco, 1875
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