Historical Marker · No. 771
Dogtown Nugget Discovery Site
Magalia, Butte County · California
Erected by Centennial Parlor No. 295, N.D.G.W., 1955
No state plaque stands here, only the Native Daughters' bronze of 1955. It calls this California's first large gold nugget, which it was not: a mass of 195 pounds came out of Carson Hill in Calaveras County in 1854. What came out of the Willard Claim across the canyon in 1859 weighed 54 pounds, and the hired hand who found it, Chauncey Wright, is named on nothing; the claim kept an owner's name and the nugget a town's. It was melted down. Dogtown became Magalia in 1861, and the Camp Fire burned through it in 2018.
What the plaque says
The Dogtown Nugget This marker symbolizes the discovery of the first large gold nugget in California. It was found across this canyon in Willard Gulch April 12, 1859. Weight 54 pounds. Placed by Centennial Parlor 295 N. D. G. W. June 12, 1955
Where it stands
39.80405, -121.57865 · Directions
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