Smartsville

The Post Office took a letter off this town in 1909. It was tidying up duplicate names across the country, and Smartsville became Smartville; a second ruling in 1947 refused to give the s back. Residents kept asking, and in August 2008 the Board on Geographic Names agreed that a town named for James Smart, who built the first hotel here in 1856, ought to carry his name. The register still records the old spelling. Nothing cast marks the landmark; the state signs it in printed metal.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Empire Mine State Historic Park — 13 mi
  The oldest, deepest, richest hard-rock gold mine in California, with 367 miles of flooded tunnels underneath.
• Nevada City — 15 mi
  Gaslamps, brick storefronts, and the Nisenan who are still fighting to be recognized on their own ground.
• Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park — 23 mi
  A canyon washed out of a mountain by water cannon, and the lawsuit that ended hydraulic mining.

More markers nearby

• Timbuctoo — 2.1 mi
• Bridgeport Historic District — 8.0 mi
• The Little Town of Rough and Ready — 8.6 mi
• The World's First Long-Distance Telephone Line — 10.0 mi