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Placer County

Placer - plass' er; American Spanish: gravel or sand deposits containing precious metal deposits.

Placer County was formed on April 25, 1851 from parts of Sutter and Yuba counties, its first settlement established in 1844 by a French sailor named Theodore Sicard. Gold was discovered at Auburn by Claud Chana on May 16, 1848. North Lake Tahoe is home to Squaw Valley, site of 1960 Winter Olympics. Elevations exceed 9,000 feet. Industry includes lumber and by-products, fruit, clay, granite, tile, cable, plastic laminate, metals, warehousing, cement, construction, livestock, dairy, and agriculture.

• Old Newcastle Market Place in Newcastle
• Folsom Dam & Reservoir, one of California's largest man-made lakes
• Donner Memorial State Park recognizing the Donner Party
• Center of 49er fruit trail in Loomis
• North Lake Tahoe, largest concentration of ski facilities
• Little Red Caboose Museum in Colfax

Other spots in the county include Gold Run and Emigrant Gap

Auburn ~ Claude Ghana, a friend of gold discoverer James Marshall, stopped here with his party on their way to Coloma. He tried his hand at panning and came up with three nuggets on his first try. Goodbye Coloma, Hello Auburn! From tent beginnings in 1848, it is now the largest city in California's Gold Country. Chana's statue is located in Old Auburn historic area. County courthouse and County museum are here, as well as the Auburn Dam overlook.

Forest Hill ~ In the 1850's, this was a booming gold camp and site of the famous Jenny Lind Mine, which produced over $1 million worth of gold by 1880. (Daguerreotype of Jenny Lind) The surrounding area produced $10 million worth. Todd Valley, a subdivision named for a brother of Mary Todd Lincoln, is nearby. Large-scale lumbering operations are located here, at the edge of the Tahoe National Forest. This is the northernmost stand of Sierra redwoods.