Gold Rush

A monument to a one-legged kidnapper, horse thief, and charlatan asks visitors to throw rocks in a pile.

Downieville's largest Gold Rush structure still standing has one of the longest bars in California.

According to legend it was a nap taken under this tree that kicked off the California Gold Rush.

Odd stone and concrete monuments in the "Poet of the Sierras" eclectic folly garden.

The first U.S. town to secede from the Union, only to vote themselves right back in.

"You don't need a rocket scientist to build a steam engine, but we've got one." -Museum docent on the credentials of a restoration volunteer.

This former boomtown "island" is now submerged below Folsom Lake.

A dentist's hated concrete colossi are now beloved icons of the community.

The oldest burial ground in the city, final resting place of city founders, Ohlone natives and murderers alike.

A rich history stashed behind an unassuming door in the heart of Gold Country.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

The echoes of a railroad town that solemnly mark the end of the line.

The oldest continuously operating Catholic school west of the Mississippi.

Established in 1853, this crumbling cemetery sits forgotten on the corner of Church and Chapel in Gold Country.

Built in 1895, this bed and breakfast was once a hospital that served an early 1900s Gold Rush boomtown.

A glimpse into the lives of the the Miwok and Paiute people in Yosemite National Park.

A statue commemorating the heroic life of a Viking postman who was the Godfather of California skiing.