Placerville's history is pretty incredible. Gold seeking emigrants arrived here. Early newspaper accounts of their arrivals filled the columns and told of the many hardships suffered by these hardy, determined folk. An early account said that emigrants were arriving weekly by the hundreds. Many brought the illnesses they contracted on the way to California with them, and hundreds died upon arriving in Placerville. They were “taken weekly to the burying ground on the hill,’’. The hill referenced in this early accounting of death in Placerville could be any number of the cemeteries located on the hillsides of Old Hangtown.

This picturesque location is hidden high above Highway 50. Its entrance is down someone's driveway. The sign within reads: “Old Uppertown Cemetery. Burials Date from 1850. Historic Site, El Dorado County No. 56.” 
There are over 170 people buried here most before 1900.


William Brewster (1782-1845) was one of the first interred here. Interestingly there was a William Brewster on the Mayflower. A relative perhaps?
This was the first hand-carved tombstones I have seen.

The property for the Uppertown Cemetery was donated by the Crocker Brothers. Their story, written in 1901, needs to be told.

Their El Dorado County story begins in March, 1852, when after an ardous journey, Benjamin Crocker arrived in Placerville. He engaged in placer mining, meeting with desirable success in his work, and after about a year opened a large mercantile store in Upper Placerville.  The enterprise has since been conducted, being now the property of his two sons, William "Frank" and Warren.

The history of a community is no longer a story of wars and conquests but is an account of its business activities, whereon depends its growth and prosperity. The Crocker Brothers, now at the head of one of the leading mercantile concerns in Placerville, are prominent in commercial circles and are recognized as enterprising citizens, widely and favorably known in their community.  They are both native sons of California and Republicans.

Christopher Wren said it best, "My walk through the cemetery was an acquaintance with local history."