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B+History
History · Placerville

Placerville’s post office opened in 1850, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns · #64 of 847 in California. What drives it

9 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 10 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1860.

1850first post office
9on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
13famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Placerville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Placerville began

When was Placerville founded?

1850

The Placerville post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,466 in 18602020 census: 10,747176 years

How historic is Placerville?

B+

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Placerville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Placerville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Placerville is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #64 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Placerville’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194014.3% of homes (±4.2) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register9 listings, 18 historic buildings, 16.7 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 68%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 93%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Placerville’s 16.7 sits above most of its state (94% of California towns have fewer) while its 18 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Placerville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew 6-fold.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1891 to 1910, drew every building in Placerville.Landmarks on the Register9 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Placerville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Placerville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1903 STATIONERY PLACERVILLE CA TO SACRA…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Placerville, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0001900195020002,466 in 1860Low: 1,562

Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew 6-fold.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Placerville’s Wikipedia page.

Every building

Placerville, building by building, 1891–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Placerville fire insurance map, 1891, sheet 11891Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Placerville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Placerville.

Read it all →

A former Maidu settlement called Indak was located at the site of the town.

After the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in nearby Coloma, California, by James W. Marshall in 1848 sparked the California Gold Rush, the small town now known as Placerville was known as Dry Diggin's after the manner in which the miners moved cartloads of dry soil to run water to separate the gold from the soil.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Placerville, 1850 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Placerville post office opens
  3. 1853BuiltFountain-Tallman Soda Works is built
  4. 1859BuiltPearson, John, Soda Works is built
  5. 1862Born hereM. Evelyn McCormick is born here
  6. 1863Born hereGeorge Hernandez is born here
  7. 1899Born hereMichael Raffetto is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1903In the archive1903 STATIONERY PLACERVILLE CA TO SACRAMENTO ADVERTISING CROCKERY COVER front
  10. 1914Born hereJohn Thomas Dunlop is born here
  11. 1917In the archiveCalifornia - Placerville through Pomona
  12. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 21st century
  14. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 10,747
By decade

Placerville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s2 items
1903 STATIONERY PLACERVILLE CA TO SACRAMENTO ADVERTISING CROCKERY COVER front19031903 STATIONERY PLACERVILLE CA TO SACRAMENTO ADVERTIS…California - Placerville through Pomona1917California - Placerville through Pomona
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today21 recent
Placerville, California2026Placerville, CaliforniaHighway 50 Wagon Train re-enactors2026Highway 50 Wagon Train re-enactorsHighway 50 Wagon Train crew2026Highway 50 Wagon Train crewHighway 50 Wagon Train 82026Highway 50 Wagon Train 8Highway 50 Wagon Train 72026Highway 50 Wagon Train 7Highway 50 Wagon Train 62026Highway 50 Wagon Train 6Highway 50 Wagon Train 52026Highway 50 Wagon Train 5Highway 50 Wagon Train 42026Highway 50 Wagon Train 4Highway 50 Wagon Train 32026Highway 50 Wagon Train 3Highway 50 Wagon Train 22026Highway 50 Wagon Train 2Highway 50 Wagon Train 12026Highway 50 Wagon Train 1Fotor 148760978046648 (1)2017Fotor 148760978046648 (1)CarsonRdPlacerville2015CarsonRdPlacerville[Historic Cary House Hotel in] the gold-country mining town of Placerville in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains2012[Historic Cary House Hotel in] the gold-country minin…[Hangman's Tree historic site,] Placerville in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains2012[Hangman's Tree historic site,] Placerville in Califo…The Placerville Hardware in the gold-country mining town of Placerville in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains2012The Placerville Hardware in the gold-country mining t…Windmill - panoramio (25)2012Windmill - panoramio (25)Smith Flat Cemetery Detail2011Smith Flat Cemetery DetailSmith Flat Cemetery2011Smith Flat CemeteryMine Cart2009Mine CartGold Mine Shaft2009Gold Mine Shaft
On the map

Placerville on the map, 1949 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Placerville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Placerville on the 1949 USGS mapPlacerville on the 1950 USGS mapPlacerville on the 1973 USGS map1949Placerville sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Placerville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1903 STATIONERY PLACERVILLE CA TO SACRAMENTO ADVERTISING CROCKERY COVER front
Retake this view1903 STATIONERY PLACERVILLE CA TO SACRAMENTO ADVERTISING CROCKERY COVER front, 1903

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Placerville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

9 historic places in Placerville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
18
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Lombardo Ranch
Episcopal Church of Our SaviourConfidence HallFountain-Tallman Soda Works, built 1853Combellack-Blair HouseHattie (Gold Bug), Priest and Silver Pine Mines and StampmillPearson, John, Soda Works, built 1859Lombardo RanchUnited States Post Office-Main Street Branch
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular2
Gothic Revival1
Victorian Italianate1
Queen Anne1
Italianate1
Stick-Eastlake1
Episcopal Church of Our SaviourGothic Revival
Confidence HallVictorian Italianate
Fountain-Tallman Soda WorksVernacular · Built 1853
Combellack-Blair HouseQueen Anne
Hattie (Gold Bug), Priest and Silver Pine Mines and StampmillDistrict
Pearson, John, Soda WorksBuilt 1859
All 9 listings
Lombardo RanchBuilding · listed 1977Eddy Tree Breeding StationDistrict · listed 1987United States Post Office-Main Street BranchBuilding · listed 2025

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

13 famous people were born in Placerville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
George HernandezActor · b. 1863
John Thomas DunlopAmerican labor economist and former United Stat… · b. 1914
M. Evelyn McCormickAmerican artist · b. 1862
Michael RaffettoAmerican actor · b. 1899
J
Jerry FreemanMajor League Baseball first baseman · b. 1879
S
Shane BarnardAmerican singer · b. 1976
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Placerville’s post office has been open since 1850.

Hamlets and corners on the map
ApexIndak
Gone or out of use
El Dorado County HospitalhospitalGold Bug MinemineMoreys FoundrylocalePlacerville AcademyschoolPlacerville Public SchoolschoolPlacerville SanatoriumhospitalUpper Town Public Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Placerville
Bennett Memorial ParkJewish PioneerMiddletownOld Placerville CityPlacerville UnionSaint PatrickUppertownWestwood Hills Memorial Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Diamond SpringsIts storyD

Questions about Placerville’s history

What year was Placerville founded?

The Placerville post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Placerville rank for history?

Placerville is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #64 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Placerville?

9 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Lombardo Ranch (listed 1977, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Hattie (Gold Bug), Priest and Silver Pine Mines and Stampmill and the Eddy Tree Breeding Station, with 10 contributing buildings. 18 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Placerville?

14% of Placerville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1975.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (20), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (9), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.