Virginiatown

Two large claims, and the bronze hedges only one of them. Captain John Bristow built California's first railroad here in 1852, it says flatly, a mile of line carrying pay dirt down to Auburn Ravine. Then it says Philip Armour and George Aldrich kept a butcher shop here which is said to have led to the founding of the Chicago meat packing company. Over two thousand miners worked the deposits. The town was founded in June 1851.

What the plaque says

VIRGINIATOWN FOUNDED JUNE 1851 - COMMONLY CALLED "VIRGINIA". OVER TWO THOUSAND MINERS WORKED RICH DEPOSITS. CAPTAIN JOHN BRISTOW BUILT CALIFORNIA'S FIRST RAILROAD, 1852, CARRYING PAY DIRT TO AUBURN RAVINE, A DISTANCE OF ONE MILE. SITE OF PHILIP ARMOUR'S AND GEORGE ALDRICH'S BUTCHER SHOP SAID TO HAVE LED TO FOUNDING OF FAMOUS CHICAGO ARMOUR MEAT PACKING COMPANY. STATE REGISTERED LANDMARK NO. 400 MARKER PLACED BY CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN CO-OPERATION WITH THE PLACER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE COUNTY OF PLACER. DEDICATED SEPTEMBER 28, 1952

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 19 mi
  The tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.
• Empire Mine State Historic Park — 23 mi
  The oldest, deepest, richest hard-rock gold mine in California, with 367 miles of flooded tunnels underneath.
• Sacramento — 27 mi
  The Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.

More markers nearby

• Griffith Quarry — 4.3 mi
• First Transcontinental Railroad - Newcastle — 4.6 mi
• Ophir — 4.9 mi
• City of Auburn — 7.3 mi