Most of Rough and Ready was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 2000.
The first established settlement in Rough and Ready was made in the fall of 1849 by a mining company from Wisconsin, known as the Rough and Ready Company, during the California Gold Rush. Their leader, Captain A. A. Townsend, named the company after General Zachary Taylor (nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready") who had recently been elected the 12th President of the United States. Captain Townsend had served under Taylor when he commanded the American Forces during the Black Hawk War (1832). California had three towns so named of which this one survives.
Passages that mention Rough and Ready, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Nevada County, California1880 · page 204Read the page →
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"In 1805, an eight-stamp mill was erected at the lower end of the town of Rough and Ready, by A. A. and John Smith, worked by an overshot wheel, but as the people in the vicinity had not carried on the work of opening the mines to such an extent as to supply a sufficient quantity of rock to keep the mill running, but little benefit has been derived by the owners of the mill or by the miners, from this commendable enterprise; like many other improvements, it was in advance of the times
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of the town of Rough and Ready is like that of many a mining town in California. A discovery of rich diggings, an influx of miners and merchants, a sudden growth of population and business, prosperity and importance as long Bfi the mines continued to yield, gradual deterioration with the decline of the mines, and, finally, resolved into a small village, with but little more than the memory of other days to live upon.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Rough and Ready, 1850 to 1949
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rough and Ready. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949Rough And Ready 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 Rough and Ready.
People over time
Rough and Ready, census by census
Between 905 and 1,595 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rough and Ready’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Rough and Ready
Nobody well known was born in Rough and Ready itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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