Downieville

Downieville, the county seat of Sierra County, was founded in 1849 after gold was discovered near the confluence of the North Yuba and Downie Rivers. First called The Forks, it was renamed for Major Downie, who is said to have offered to throw a pan of gold dust into the street if the town took his name. By 1852, the population was about 3,000. Nearby placer mines were extraordinarily rich, with one site reportedly yielding $300 to the pan for a brief time, and the Tin Cap Diggins on the right bank above the second bridge was said to be so productive that its owners worked each day until they had filled a tin drinking cup with gold. Downieville also endured repeated disasters, including major fires in 1852, 1858, and 1864, and a raging flood in 1938, though many of its buildings still remain. Around 1880, the hillsides surrounding the town were bare of trees because early settlers and miners had cut the forest for fuel and construction materials, but over time nature, aided by human fire protection, reforested those early clearcuts.

Downieville, California · United States