First called Savage Diggins after the man who discovered gold here in 1848, Big Oak Flat was renamed about 1850 for the giant oak tree that stood in the center of town near this spot. The oak, about 13 feet in diameter, was undermined in 1869 and burned in 1890, and pieces remain. Rich placer and lode mines are reported to have yielded $28,000,000 during the town's heyday. Stone buildings erected in 1852 were still standing in 1949.