Angels Camp

This is a sales pitch cast in bronze. The Calaveras County Chamber of Commerce put it up in May 1931 with a frog on top and the words Romance, Gold, History across the second line, then listed the town's assets: a hundred million dollars of production, the richest quartz ground in the Mother Lode, Mark Twain's story, and a guest list of bandits. Joaquín Murrieta and Black Bart appear as attractions, and the bronze does not hedge the way the register later would.

What the plaque says

ANGELS CAMP. HOME OF THE JUMPING FROG. ROMANCE - GOLD - HISTORY FOUNDED IN 1849 BY GEORGE ANGEL, WHO ESTABLISHED A MINING CAMP AND TRADING STORE 200 FEET BELOW THIS MARKER. A RICH GRAVEL MINING AREA AND ONE OF THE RICHEST QUARTZ MINING SECTIONS OF THE MOTHER LODE. PRODUCTION RECORDS OF OVER 100 MILLION DOLLARS FOR ANGELS CAMP AND VICINITY. PROMINENT IN EARLY DAY CALIFORNIA HISTORY. TOWNSITE ESTABLISHED IN 1873. THE LOCALE OF MARK TWAIN'S FAMOUS STORY, THE JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS. FREQUENTED BY JOAQUIN MURIETTA, BLACK BART AND OTHER EARLY DAY BANDITS. ERECTED AND DEDICATED BY CALAVERAS COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, MAY 16, 1931.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 7.8 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Angels Hotel — steps away
• Prince-Garibardi Building — 1.1 mi
• Altaville — 1.1 mi
• Altaville Grammar School — 1.6 mi