Placerville is a ghost town located in the western part of Idaho in Boise County between Horseshoe Bend and Idaho City. It was founded in the late 1800s by gold miners who had come from Placerville, California. The town prospered for a short time, but it eventually succumbed to fires, dwindling resources, and the harshness of the Idaho winters.

History

Like Idaho City, Placerville was a part of the early Boise Basin gold rush that brought hundreds of potential miners and fortune seekers to Idaho in the 1860’s. The mines were very productive during and after the Civil War, and unlike some of the nothern mining towns whose prospects dwindled quickly, the nearby mining operations continued to bring in gold for over a decade. Prospectors become rich and sent for their families as the railroad grew. The town became a supply hub for the area, incorporating a church, thirteen saloons, butcher shops, schools, blacksmiths, and even a dress maker. It was quite large for its time and location, but like many mining towns, the population eventually dwindled when the mines ran out of gold.

When the miners reluctantly had to switch to quartz extraction, much of the townsfolk had already been replaced by Chinese immigrants, who, due to the biased laws of the time, were prohibited from mining more lucrative sites. Additionally, several fires destroyed most of the town around the turn of the 20th century, and by the 1970’s only a handful of people remained. Today, just 53 people live in Placerville and survive on gold panning, ATV rentals, and hunting. The rest of the town has been abandoned.

Visiting Today

Today, Placerville is for the most part, a ghost town. The only reminder of its past are a few old buildings that still stand, as well as remnants of the mining operations. Although some of it is not open to the public, visitors can take a drive through the town and view the abandoned buildings, some of which date back to the late 1800s. There are also two museums that are open during the summer upon request. Despite being a ghost town, it is still incorporated and people enjoy living in this quiet secluded place.

If you are interested in looking for gold, panning in the area is quite viable since the Idaho rivers nearby provide a lot of precious metal runoff. Though the more prosperous locations are a well-kept secret, you can try your luck in some of the tributaries of the Payette river around Placerville and Horseshoe Bend.

Placerville is a reminder of the boom-and-bust cycle of the mining industry in the American West. Its story is a reminder of the harsh realities of life in the wild west, and of the resilience of the people who sought their fortune in the hills of Idaho.