Historical Marker · No. 142
Studebaker's Shop (Site of)
Placerville, El Dorado County · California
Erected by James W. Marshall Chapter No. 49, E Clampus Vitus, dedicated August 27, 1939, 1939
No state plaque stands here. What marks the site is a bronze relief the Clampers dedicated in 1939, a portrait of John Mohler Studebaker in profile with a wheelbarrow cast on one side and an automobile on the other. The shop itself was not his. Ollis and Hinds ran the blacksmith business at the front and Studebaker rented the back, which is the whole point: he arrived with nothing and worked in borrowed space. The relief names him pioneer, blacksmith, soldier, inventor, builder, which is more titles than the state gave him.
What the plaque says
John Mohler Studebaker 1833 - 1917 Pioneer - Blacksmith - Soldier Inventor - Builder Dedicated Aug. 27, 1939 by James W. Marshall Chapter No. 49, E Clampus Vitus
Where it stands
38.72945, -120.79802 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 6.8 miThe tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.
More markers nearby
- Old Dry Diggins-Old Hangtown-Placerville — steps away
- Methodist Episcopal Church — 0.2 mi
- Hangman's Tree — 0.3 mi
- Placerville-Overland Pony Express Route in California — 0.3 mi