Iowa Hill

This is the only plaque in the campaign that measures a town by the week. Gold was found in 1853 and by 1856 the weekly production was put at a hundred thousand dollars, twenty million in all up to 1880. The town burned in 1857 and again in 1862, rebuilding more substantially each time, until the fire of 1920 took most of it. The plaque itself was replaced in 1976 and carries the 1950 text forward.

What the plaque says

IOWA HILL GOLD DISCOVERED HERE IN 1853 AND BY 1856 WEEKLY PRODUCTION ESTIMATED AT ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. TOTAL VALUE OF GOLD PRODUCED UP TO 1880 PLACED AT TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS. TOWN WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1857 AND AGAIN IN 1862 BUT EACH TIME WAS REBUILT WITH MORE SUBSTANTIAL BUILDINGS. LAST BIG FIRE 1920 DESTROYED MOST OF TOWN. STATE REGISTERED LANDMARK NO 401 TABLET PLACED BY CALIFORNIA CENTENNIALS COMMISSION BASE FURNISHED BY PLACER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ORIGINALLY DEDICATED AUGUST 27, 1950 REPLACED AND REDEDICATED JULY 4, 1976 BY THE PLACER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND IOWA HILL COMMUNITY CLUB.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Empire Mine State Historic Park — 12 mi
  The oldest, deepest, richest hard-rock gold mine in California, with 367 miles of flooded tunnels underneath.
• Nevada City — 14 mi
  Gaslamps, brick storefronts, and the Nisenan who are still fighting to be recognized on their own ground.
• Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park — 19 mi
  A canyon washed out of a mountain by water cannon, and the lawsuit that ended hydraulic mining.
• Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 21 mi
  The tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.

More markers nearby

• Gold Run — 4.7 mi
• First Transcontinental Railroad - Colfax — 4.9 mi
• Yankee Jims — 5.3 mi
• Forest Hill — 6.4 mi