Historic Meanderings...
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| Our wanderings found us in Amador County on State Route 49. SR 49 passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush and is numbered after the "49ers", the waves of immigrants who swept into the area looking for gold. It is also a route that gave us great opportunity to study the local history and ramble about. |
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| This remnant of a town is named for Nashville, Tennessee and all that remains is this closed bar. A post office operated here on and off from 1852 to 1907. Interestingly, there are 13 Nashvilles and we now have been to two but not the one in TN. |
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| Drytown (1849) is the oldest town in Amador County and the first in the county in which gold was discovered. |
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| I could have spent all day in here in Sutter Creek but it was a Monday and most shops were closed. The town oozes history. Known as the "Jewel of the Mother Lode," it was named after John Sutter, who sent a party to the area in 1846 in search of timber. |
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| Today, this quaint town is a tourist mecca with many shops and restaurants. The town itself is registered as California Historical Landmark #322. Many of the original brick buildings are still standing, as are some of the mansions built by wealthier residents. Leland Stanford was one of Sutter Creek's most famous residents. |
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| To head back to Tahoe, we turned onto SR 88 and traversed the historic Carson Pass, a point on the Carson Trail during the California Gold Rush that was also used for American Civil War shipping. We paused briefly to admire this meadow with Kirkwood in the background. Zack Kirkwood, a cattle rancher who had settled in the area, opened an inn, named Kirkwood's, in 1863 with the opening of the Amador/Nevada Wagon Toll Road, the primary route through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This became a ski resort in 1972 and is breathtakingly beautiful. |
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| Silver Lake, at an elevation of 7,300', called out to us to pause and soak it in. This spectacular location has been a popular destination on Carson Pass for decades. Residents of the central valley flocked to the mild climates of the mountains in the summer, often setting up tent camps that stood for months. Many of the lodges and camps here date back to 1853. The entire day of meandering exposed us to exceptional views, perfectly framed by our windshield, and whet our appetites for more exploration. |
1 comments:
I love the little towns in your area. It reminds me of Murrieta, back in the day.
Cute dress, by the way!
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