Lancha Plana

The plaque thanks the water district that drowned the town. It carries a cast map of Camanche Reservoir with one arrow marking where you are standing and another marking the dam, and the town lies under the water between them. Mexican settlers from Sonora made the camp in 1848 and called it Sonora Bar; the name became Lancha Plana, flat boat, for the ferry that crossed to Poverty Bar. By 1858 it had a thousand people and a newspaper, which moved to Jackson and became the Amador Dispatch.

What the plaque says

LANCHA PLANA (NO. 30 CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL LANDMARK) IN 1848, MEXICAN SETTLERS FROM SONORA, MEXICO ESTABLISHED A CAMP ON THE NORTH BANK OF THE MOKELUMNE RIVER AND CALLED IT SONORA BAR. AT THE START OF THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH, MINERS FLOCKED TO THE MOKELUMNE RIVER AND SET UP CAMPS AND TOWNS ALONG ITS MINERAL-RICH BANKS. JUST ACROSS THE RIVER FROM SONORA BAR LAY THE EXCEEDINGLY RICH GRAVEL DEPOSITS OF POVERTY BAR. A FERRY WAS ESTABLISHED THAT CARRIED MINERS ACROSS THE RIVER TO POVERTY BAR AND THE HARD-ROCK MINES OF CALAVERAS COUNTY. EVENTUALLY, THE NAME OF THE CAMP WAS CHANGED FROM SONORA BAR TO LANCHA PLANA, SPANISH FOR "FLAT BOAT," A REFERENCE TO THE FERRY. LANCHA PLANA REACHED THE HEIGHT OF ITS PROSPERITY AFTER 1856 WHEN HILL AND BLUFF MINING LARGELY REPLACED RIVER MINING. BY 1858, THE TOWN BOASTED A POPULATION OF OVER 1,000 PEOPLE, ENOUGH TO SUPPORT ITS OWN NEWSPAPER. THE LANCHA PLANA DISPATCH WENT INTO CIRCULATION ON MARCH 3, 1860. BY NOVEMBER OF THAT YEAR, THE SUCCESSFUL NEWSPAPER WAS RELOCATED TO JACKSON, THE AMADOR COUNTY SEAT, AND BECAME THE AMADOR DISPATCH. TODAY, WHAT IS LEFT OF LANCHA PLANA LIES BENEATH THE WATERS OF THE EAST BAY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT'S CAMANCHE RESERVOIR. THE MODERN LANCHA PLANA BRIDGE IS LOCATED NEAR THE NOW INUNDATED TOWN AFTER WHICH IT IS NAMED. THANK YOU TO THE EAST BAY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT FOR ALLOWING THE PLACEMENT OF THIS COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE ON THEIR PROPERTY. DEDICATED JANUARY 21, 2017 (6022) BY THE JAMES W. MARSHALL CHAPTER 49 OF THE ANCIENT AND HONORABLE ORDER OF E CLAMPUS VITUS.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Camanche — 2.4 mi
• Campo Seco — 5.0 mi
• Valley Springs — 7.0 mi
• Methodist Episcopal Church — 8.0 mi