Greenwood

The camp's most durable product was a song. John A. Stone came overland in 1850, failed at prospecting, and reinvented himself in San Francisco as Old Put, writing more than fifty numbers about miners and publishing them in cheap songsters. One of them was Sweet Betsy from Pike, which is still sung. He is buried here. The plaque lists a theater, four hotels, fourteen stores, a brewery and four saloons, and gives his death as 1863; the published accounts put it in 1864.

What the plaque says

Greenwood John Greenwood, a trapper and guide who came to California in 1844, established here a trading post in 1849. The mining town of Greenwood, which developed during the gold rush, boasted a theater, 4 hotels, 14 stores, a brewery, and 4 saloons. Among its illustrious citizens was John A. Stone, California songwriter, who was buried here in 1863. Historical Landmark No. 521 Marker placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with the Golden Key May 15, 1955

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 6.7 mi
  The tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.
• Empire Mine State Historic Park — 22 mi
  The oldest, deepest, richest hard-rock gold mine in California, with 367 miles of flooded tunnels underneath.

More markers nearby

• Georgetown — 4.1 mi
• Site of California's First Grange Hall — 6.6 mi
• Gold Discovery Site — 6.7 mi
• Coloma Road-Coloma — 6.8 mi