Visit Diamond Spring's Historic Sites • Diamond Springs Town Map
After the hardships and trials of crossing the Sierra Nevada, the
weary emigrants following the Carson Trail no doubt welcomed a day or
two of rest at the group of springs located here, sweet springs which
provided cool, beautifully clear water. And once the travelers had
rested and the stock had been watered, they would move on. No one could
afford to stay for any length of time, they were bound for Coloma or
the Southern Mines; the gold was waiting.This all changed in the late summer of 1850 when a party of two
hundred emigrants arrived from Missouri. The company was led by a man
named McPike, and after crossing the mountains, they decided to rest
here for a few days before moving on. The beautiful scenery, pasture
and water changed their minds; however, and when they discovered gold
in the ravines, the matter was settled, and so was Diamond Springs.
Although some early accounts relate that the place was named after the
finding of nice quartz crystals mistakenly thought to be diamonds, it
was the crystal clear water of the springs for which the place was
named.Besides having an abundance of gold in the ravines and gulches, the
camp’s favorable location helped its growth. Stages made regular stops,
freighters made the town a base for their operations, and anyone
traveling from Sacramento to Placerville passed through the town. The
miners continued to mine and Diamond Springs continued to grow.
By 1854, Coloma’s importance as a mining center had begun to decline
and other towns began to covet the county seat. Placerville led in the
agitation for the removal of the county seat from Coloma, and when the
matter was finally voted on, Diamond Springs finished third in the
balloting, from a field of five contenders.Not winning the county seat proved no problem for the prosperous
town. After all, the place had half a dozen saloons, a like number of
general stores, a druggist, a carpenter, a jeweler, a bookseller,
churches, stables, a temperance hall, a law library, an express office,
a post office, hotels, dwellings, and fraternal organizations such as
the Masons and the Odd Fellows.A story is told that the early day chickens of Diamond Springs were
accomplished gatherers of gold, hunting and pecking at small nuggets.
One Sunday morning, a local chicken was caught and fried up for the
afternoon’s dinner. When the lucky cook later panned out the chicken’s
gizzard, he supposedly netted about $12 in gold.