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Nevada County History

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Nevada County was named after the mining town of Nevada City, a name derived from the term "Sierra Nevada." The word "Nevada" in Spanish means "snowy" or "snow  covered.". [Sierra refers to a mountain range. Commonly incorrectly referred to as "Sierras" ]

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FOUNDING OF NEVADA COUNTY

The following is based on an article by Edwin Tyson, Decd., Curator of the Searls Library which was published in the Nevada County Historical Society BULLETIN,Vol. 60, #2, April 2006:

county outlines

In 1848 an adobe structure was built in then Yuba County between Anthony House (now Lake Wildwood) and Bridgeport. It was called Rose's Corral. From that small settlement the future Nevada County grew.

In September 1849 prospectors found placer gold deposits where Gold Run enters Deer Creek. Dr. A.B. Caldwell established stores along Deer Creek to serve the growing number of gold seekers. At that time the first permanent log cabin was erected in what would become "Nevada" or "Nevada City." Dr. Caldwell built "Caldwell's Upper Store" in October 1849. The miners prospered and more and more cabins and shanties were built through the Spring of 1850. The name "Nevada" was applied to the settlement in March 1850.

The U.S. Census of 1850 reported the population Nevada [City] at 1,067. California entered the Union September 9, 1850 and a U.S. Post Office name "Nevada City" opened in December 1850. Nevada County was created by the California Legislature from Yuba County May 18, 1851.

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According to Kirkham's A Genealogical and Historical Atlas of the United States of America (Everton Pub, Inc., 1976),  in 1880, known "places" in Nevada County (and their populations) included:

Anthony House x
Birchville 50
Blue Tent 350
Boca 200
Bronco 50
Columbia Hill 125
Freeman's Crossing 125
French Corral 527
Graniteville 225
Grass Valley 4,451
Hopkins x
Indian Springs 110
Lake City 100
Lowell Hill 75
Magenta Flume 50
Maybert x
Moore's Flat 435
Nevada City 3,500
North Bloomfield 724
North Columbia x
North San Juan 675
Omega 50
Patterson 100
Pine Grove x
Prosser 50
Rough and Ready 131
Sage Hen 26
SnowTent 25
Spenceville 350
Sweetland 100
Truckee 1,147
Washington 500
You Bet 200
Places whose population was not ascertainable are marked with an (x).

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This page last updated: 16 Jan 2019

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HISTORICAL ARTICLES

Nevada County Historical Society (NCHS) has published articles on local history since 1948. Hundreds of titles by respected local authors can be ordered from the Society.
See two indexes posted here.