Page 707 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

THE GOLD C OUNTR Y  705

, Sacramento had their western terminus park. To its east, Sutter’s Fort is
k £ @ 30, 31, 32. n 1002 St, here, with riverboats providing a re-creation of the town’s
(916) 442-7644, 10am–5pm daily. passage to San Francisco. The original settlement.
∑ discovergold.org California State Railroad
Museum, at the northern edge E California State
Founded by John Sutter in of the old town, houses some Railroad Museum
1839, California’s capital city restored locomotives. A little 125 I St. Tel (916) 445-2560.
preserves many historic away from the old city, the State Open 10am–5pm daily. Closed Jan 1,
buildings along the waterfront Capitol stands in a landscaped Thanksgiving, Dec 25.
in Old Sacramento. Most of
the structures date from the California State Capitol
1860s, when it became the Designed in 1860 in grand Renaissance
supply point for miners. Revival style, this building was completed
Both the transcontinental in 1874. Housing the office of the
railroad and Pony Express governor and the state senate chambers,
the Capitol also serves as a museum
of the state’s political and
cultural history.
The Capitol
Rotunda
was restored to
its original
19th-century
splendor
in 1975.
Original 1860 statuary
Entrance
The Historic Offices on the first floor
contain a few government offices restored to
their turn-of-the-century appearance.

. Highway 49 as a lumber mill town since / Columbia State
1850. The Amador County Historic Park
@ n 542 Main St, Placerville, (530)
621-5885. Museum, located on a hill above Hwy 49. n N255 Jackson St, (209)
the town, features a range of 588-9128. ∑ parks.ca.gov
The Gold Country offers one of old mining equipment.
California’s best scenic drives, Northward, Highway 49 At the height of the Gold
through rocky ridges and passes through Placerville. Rush, Columbia was one of
flowing rivers, along Highway Once a busy supply center for the most important towns
49. Many of the towns it passes the area’s mining camps, the in the Gold Country. Most
through, such as Sutter Creek, town is still a major transport- of the state’s mining camps
have survived unchanged since ation center. Of interest here disintegrated once the gold
the Gold Rush. Named after are the Placerville History ran out in the late 1850s. But
John Sutter, this scenic town Museum and the El Dorado Columbia was kept intact
grew up to service the Old County Historical Museum, by its residents until 1945,
Eureka Mine, owned by Hetty which displays a replica of a when it was turned into a
Green, the “Richest Woman in 19th-century general store, state historic park. Many of the
the World.” Leland Stanford, artifacts from the Chinese town’s buildings are preserved
the railroad baron, made his settlement, and other local in their original state, like
fortune here, by investing in historical exhibits. the Wells Fargo Express
the town’s Lincoln Mine. Office, and the restored
He used the money to Columbia Schoolhouse.
become a railroad Visitors can buy pans of sand
magnate and then the to try panning gold.
governor of California.
A short drive E Wells Fargo Express Office &
southeast leads to Columbia Schoolhouse
Jackson, a bustling gold- Open 10am–4pm daily (Jun–Aug:
mining community that until 6pm). Closed Thanksgiving,
has continued to thrive Parrots Ferry Bridge along Highway 49 Dec 25.

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