CERES

State Historical Landmarks
Plumas County

California State Historical Landmarks in Plumas County

Properties of historical importance in California are currently designated as significant resources in three state registration programs: State Historical Landmarks, Points of Historical Interest, and the California Register of Historic Places. Below is a list of the State Historical Landmarks for Plumas County. This data is provided by the Office of Historic Preservation - California Department of Parks and Recreation and is also available in the California Historical Landmarks Book.

NO. 184 PETER LASSEN MARKER (SITE OF LASSEN TRADING POST) - In the summer of 1850, Lassen and a companion, Isidore Meyerwitz, went to Indian Valley and selected a suitable location for a ranch, where they erected a log cabin in 1851 to house their trading post. In 1855 Lassen moved to Honey Lake Valley, Lassen County, where he resided as a miner and farmer until he was killed from ambush while prospecting in 1859.
Location: On North Valley Rd, 4.5 mi E of Greenville

NO. 196 JAMISON CITY, EUREKA MILLS, JOHNSTOWN, AND THE FAMOUS EUREKA MINE - Along the Pioneer Trail lies Jamison City and mine, large producer and famous for its 52-pound nugget. Eureka Mill and mine yielded $17 million to Cornish miners and others. Johnstown, now Johnsville, is a well-preserved '49er town.
Location: Plumas-Eureka State Park, from Hwy 70, go S on State Hwy 89, then W on County Road A14, 5 mi SW of Blairsden
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: BLAIRSDEN 15

NO. 197 BUCK'S LAKE - This was the site of a ranch established by Horace Bucklin and Francis Walker in 1850. Later came a large hotel, post office, and express office. The site is now inundated by Buck's Dam and Reservoir.
Location: Buck's Lake Lodge Marina, Buck's Lake Rd, 15. 7 mi W of Quincy via Buck's Lake Rd W

NO. 212 PIONEER GRAVE (GRIZZLY CREEK) - The legend, as told by the pioneers: 'The lad was returning to Marysville from a trip to the mines, he, having packed a trainload of provisions to the mines, was returning with gold dust. He was murdered and robbed. Later a comrade carved his name, age, etc., on a tree. P. Linthiouh, died September, 1852, age 19.'
Location: On Buck's Lake Rd, 3.5 mi W of Buck's Lake, 19.2 mi W of Quincy
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: BUCKS LAKE 15

NO. 213 RABBIT CREEK HOTEL MONUMENT - La Porte, first known as Rabbit Creek, was one of the most important settlements in the southern part of Plumas County. In the fall of 1852, Eli S. Lester built the Rabbit Creek Hotel, the first house in town.
Location: SW corner of Main and Church Sts, La Porte

NO. 231 ELIZABETHTOWN - Tate's Ravine was named in the spring of 1852, when Alex and Frank Tate discovered gold there. Lewis Stark and his family came across the plains to settle here in September 1852. A very rich mine was opened up and the place grew in population. Soon the miners wanted a new name for the settlement, so they called it Elizabethtown in honor of Stark's daughter, the village's only unmarried woman.
Location: On dirt rd, 0.4 mi NW of State Hwy 70 (P.M. 41.6), 1.8 mi N of Quincy

NO. 336 BECKWOURTH PASS - Beckwourth Pass, at an elevation of 5,221 feet, the lowest pass in the Sierra Nevada, was discovered in 1851 by James P. Beckwourth. The monument is dedicated to the discoverer and to the pioneers who passed along this trail.
Location: Roadside rest area, Beckwourth 's Pass, State Hwy 70 (P.M. 95.8), 1.5 mi E of Chilcoot

NO. 337 RICH BAR - Gold was first found here in July 1850 by miners coming over the mountains from the Yuba Diggins, and there was much production during early 1850s along this east branch of the Feather River's north fork. Here 'Dame Shirley' (Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe) wrote her Letters From the California Mines, one of the classics of the gold rush.
Location: Rich Bar, on State Hwy 70 (P.M. 18.8), 4 mi SE of Belden, 23.6 mi NW of Quincy

NO. 479 SITE OF AMERICAN RANCH AND HOTEL - James H. Bradley in 1854 built the American Hotel, the first sawed-lumber house in Quincy. On March 18, 1854, three commissioners met there to form a new county from a portion of Butte County, and the hotel became the county seat of Plumas County until a more suitable location could be found. Plumas Lodge No. 60, F. & A.M., instituted May 1, 1854, met in an upstairs room in the hotel until their new Quincy temple was completed in 1855.
Location: 355 Main St, Quincy

NO. 480 SITE OF PLUMAS HOUSE - The first and second Plumas Houses were built on this site. The second was built in 1866 by James and Jane Edwards. This hotel, the center of Quincy's social and business life for more than thirty years, burned to the ground on June 23, 1923.
Location: SW corner of Main and Court Sts, Quincy

NO. 481 SPANISH RANCH AND MEADOW VALLEY - Miners going to the East Branch, Middle Fork, or North Fork of the Feather River separated at Spanish Rancho, established in July 1850 by two Spaniards, and at Meadow Valley, 2.5 miles from Spanish Ranch.
Location: On Spanish Ranch side rd, Buck's Lake Rd, 5.8 mi W of Quincy
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: SPRING GARDEN

NO. 625 PIONEER SCHOOLHOUSE - In 1857 the residents of the eastern end of American Valley built a school, the first schoolhouse in Plumas County. On July 2, 1857, Mr. S. A. Ballou was engaged as teacher for 19 children. The building is now used for kindergarten purposes (1957).
Location: Plumas Co Fairgrounds, 2 mi E of Quincy via E Main St and Fairgrounds Rd
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: QUINCY

NO. 723 PIONEER SKI AREA OF AMERICA, JOHNSVILLE - The first sport ski area in the western hemisphere was in the Sierra Nevada, and by 1860 races were being held in the Plumas-Sierra region. The mining towns of Whiskey Diggings, Poker Flat, Port Wine, Onion Valley, La Porte, Jamison City, and Johnsville organized the earliest ski clubs and annual competitions.
Location: Plumas-Eureka State Park, from Hwy 70 go S on State Hwy 89, then W on County Road A14, 5 mi SW of Blairsden