Places of Interest

California

Coloma

• Marshall Gold Discovery SHP

  Site of Sutter’s Mill, where gold was discovered in California, sparking the California gold rush in 1848. A California state park with a model of the original mill, historic buildings, and living history days.

Grass Valley

• Empire Mine

  California’s oldest, richest, and largest gold mine. Open for tours and hosts occasional history days.

  • Holidays at Empire Mine

    Come out tomorrow for family fun, mining facts, and living history.

Nevada City

• Malakoff Diggins

  Historic hydraulic mining location. Now a state park with tours, hikes, and camping.

Sacramento

• Sutter’s Fort

  Historic agricultural outpost run by Sutter, of Sutter’s Mill. California State Park with tours and living history days.

• Crocker Art Museum

  The Crocker Art Museum has a massive collection of early California art, much of which is inspired by—and often funded by those who profited from—the gold rush.

• Sacramento History Museum

  The Sacramento History Museum devotes a large portion of their displays to gold rush era Sacramento and its environs.

Nevada City

• Malakoff Diggins

  Historic hydraulic mining location. Now a state park with tours, hikes, and camping.

San Francisco

While San Francisco has always had a well sheltered bay for shipping, it blossomed into a city with the California gold rush. More…

• Wells Fargo Museum

  The Wells Fargo Museum was formed to celebrate the history of the Wells Fargo bank. Yet, such a legacy is so tightly tied to California gold that many of the displays are devoted to the shinny stuff.

Murphys

• Ironstone’s Crown Jewel

  Home to the world’s largest piece of crystalline gold leaf, weighing in at 44 lbs.

Los Angeles

• Mining in the Angeles Forest

  The Angeles National Forest is a sprawling 700,000 acres of forest, trails, and historic landmarks acting as the backyard of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

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  • Part 3