Only 44 miles from South Lake Tahoe lies the historic and interesting town of Truckee, California.

"Truckee is a place rich in history with a quaint downtown that hosts charming shops and superb restaurants set in authentic historic buildings. Recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Truckee proudly retains its historic roots. Named for a Paiute Indian chief who helped guide thousands of emigrants in their westward journey through 40-mile desert. Truckee is well known for its logging, ice manufacturing, the Emigrant Trail, as well as for the tragic expedition of the Donner Party."
First order of business was lunch at Jax at the Tracks. This is one of those places we have driven past and always wanted to stop.
We love eating in history. In 1992, successful San Francisco restaurant entrepreneur Robert Carey decided that this Sierra Nevada town, where he owned a second home, was ripe for a restaurant that offered great food at affordable prices. He read about a man who was saving historic diners from the wrecking ball. After much research, Carey found the Birmingham Grille, a 1948 Kullman diner that was for sale outside of Philly. Eventually (with much effort) the diner was delivered here and the rest is culinary history!


After fueling up we wandered off the beaten path. Here history is being sold in order to save it and make it new again. 
This very in need of love Queen Anne residence had an asking price of $499,999.
While this Vernacular Cottage had the asking price of $399,999. Both have sold. Boy the buyers must love projects.
These seven cottages are to be developed into "tiny houses" and are still in the application process. Wow.
In its heyday, Truckee had a whole lot of lumber to make a whole lot of homes.

I love old signs on the sides of buildings, revealing their past lives. The Hotel Rex was built between 1870 and 1885 and renovated around 1915 after the 1913 fire.
What an interesting discovery. On top of this monument is a sculpture of an eagle with its wings spread and sitting in a nest. The plaque reads, "Dedicated to California’s Sons and Daughters Who Served Their Country In the World War 1917 -1918 And to the Memory of Those Who Gave the Last Full Measure of Devotion".
History was found all over this quaint town. This cabin is the oldest building in town and built by Joseph Gray. Mr. Gray and George Schaffer built and operated the first lumber mill in 1866. Quickly, many other sawmills were built to supply the demand for wood products for the Central Pacific Railroad and Virginia City mines. Structural lumber, railroad ties, poles, fence posts, shingles, mine timbers, charcoal and firewood were cut from the extensive forest and shipped all over the West. The lumber industry was Truckee’s biggest business for decades.
This amazing thing is a snow plow rotary. Check out the video to see its power. Wow.
We were curious by this statement. "DO NOT HUMP" is a command that tells railroad employees, in a freight yard, not to send a freight car so labeled over a railroad hill called a hump, a man-made structure for sorting freight cars by gravity.
And how about this 160 ton steam-powered Bucyrus Erie crane? It has a long history handling railroad wrecks in the Truckee area. Wow.
The town is filled with modern art, gracefully cohesive with the historical buildings. I particularly enjoyed The Band, a tall, slender, and contemporary structure of light and air, with each band member weighing about 800 pounds and measuring roughly 4 feet in diameter by 10 feel high. So cool.
The shops, along Commercial Row, displayed unique and clever items to purchase. Some just made me laugh.
After our time in town, we headed for an explore of two of Truckees four cemeteries.
Tombstone by tombstone, the story of Truckee unspools on a large rectangle of greening grass where for more than a century and a half, gunfighters and botanists, ice harvesters and lawyers, lumberjacks and railroad workers have been buried.

At the Truckee Cemetery, known formally as Sierra Mountain Cemetery, each tombstone marks a life lived, a piece of what the town is today. Woven together, these stories are Truckee’s history. But there are gaps in the narrative — broken tombstones, disintegrated wooden grave markers, tombs without names.

Down the hill and without any grand entrance, we discovered the old Catholic Cemetery.
Several tombstones we adorned with these odd porcelain figurines. I have never seen anything quite like that before and I frequent cemeteries. Hmm.

Our last stop on the Truckee Historic Tour was a visit to this gazebo. Legend tells us that this rock was used by Native Americans who inhabited this area to keep their fish and dried meat safe from animals and birds. The slightest vibrations of the smaller stone served to frighten the birds away and the height of the larger stone was too high for animals to climb. Although the stone no longer rocks, having been cemented in place, the 17-ton stone is one of 25 known rocking stones in the world. 

Charles F. McGlashan, a prominent Truckee citizen, from 1872 to 1931, and the man who interviewed the survivors of the Donner Party and wrote The History of the Donner Party, built an enclosed, high-arched windowed tower over this rock in 1893. Inside the tower he kept many of the Donner Party relics and memorabilia, which are now on display at the Donner Memorial State Park Museum. Here he also kept his exquisite collection of butterflies and moths, which can also be viewed at the Donner Museum. History truly is everywhere.

Truckee is one of those towns which demands further exploration! Its story is so much a part of California's. We look forward to our next visit and gaining even more knowledge. Fun stuff only 44 miles from home!