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The first sawmill in Nevada City was built on Deer Creek, just above town, in August 1850, by Lewis & Son, with a water wheel. [ 11 ] In 1850–51, Nevada City was the state's most important mining town, and Nevada County the state's leading gold-mining county.
Name Origins. In March 1850, with the deep, deep snow still melting, the settlement called Caldwell’s Upper Store or Deer Creek Dry Diggings had a booming population of between 6,000 and 16,000 miners, making it at the time the third largest city in California, after San Francisco and Sacramento.
History. Nevada City developed along the banks of Deer Creek in 1849. Civic leaders named the town Nevada, Spanish for “snow-covered,” in 1850 and the next year the newly-incorporated city became the Nevada County seat.
Hundreds of men spent the winter of 1849 to 1850 searching for gold, living mainly in tents or hastily-built huts. The California legislature authorized the establishment of a town called Nevada (“snow-covered” in Spanish) in Yuba County in 1850.
Nevada City, California has a rich history as a gold rush town from its early beginnings in 1849. But unlike most boom-to-bust settlements, miners in and around Nevada City continued to find gold for the next hundred years.
Like other Gold Rush towns up and down the Mother Lode, Nevada City began in 1849. While other old towns have disappeared or fallen victim to urban sprawl, Nevada City, located 80 miles west of Reno, via Interstate 80 and scenic Highway 20, has managed to retain its old-fashioned charm.
Many California gold rush towns have disappeared into the pages of history, yet Nevada City has rebounded time and again to emerge as a unique blend of yesterday and today.