Gold Rush Ghosts of Placerville, Coloma & Georgetown

by Linda J. Bottjer

Overview

Fueled by the dream to strike it rich, prospectors flocked to California during the gold rush. Yet the harsh lifestyle and backbreaking work led many to early graves. Join author Linda Bottjer on a tour through Gold Country's most chilling—and true—haunted tales. Tales such as the hangman of Placerville, whose distinctive wheeze is a sign of his continued presence. Or the Georgetown miner whose unrequited love for a much younger lady of the night finds him still pining for her in death as he did in life. And in Coloma, the ghost of James Marshall is said to dwell on the lonely hilltop where his cabin and monument now stand. These stories, and many others, capture the ghostly spirit of Gold Country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626194595
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	06/17/2014
Series:	Haunted America
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Linda J. Bottjer, a native New Yorker, has loved history since childhood. As a freelance writer her work has appeared with CBS News, Travel & Leisure, the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group and Healing Quest, a syndicated PBS series. Currently she is the owner of Gold Rush Tales, a tour company based in Northern California. Their ghost tours of Placerville, Grapes and Graves and Walking with the Dead tours allow people to meet the spirited deceased residents of major Mother Lode towns.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction 11

I Placerville

1 The Bee-Bennett Mansion 15

2 Gold Bug Mine 21

3 Cuppa Coffee and More! 23

4 Stan Levine 26

5 The Cary House Hotel 31

6 Ghosts of Placerville's Chinese 35

7 Placerville Hardware Store 38

8 Hangtown's First Hanging 42

9 Irish Dick 74

10 A Mother's Everlasting Love 50

11 Memory Chapel 53

12 Lofty Lou's 56

13 Chamber of Commerce Building 58

14 Molly of the Fountain-Tallman Building 65

15 Pennies at 312 Main Street 68

16 The Lady in White at 537 Mam Street 71

17 Placerville News Company 74

18 Spirited Fun Down at the Levee 77

19 Lions Park's Old Prospectors 81

20 Placerville Soda Works 84

21 The Smith Flat House 89

22 Gothic Rose Antiques 92

23 The Children of Placerville Cemeteries 96

24 Small Specter Encounters along Main Street 99

II Coloma

25 Unexplained Happenings along the American River 107

26 Driving on Prospectors Road 110

27 James Marshall Monument 113

28 James Marshall's Cabin 119

29 The Vineyard House 123

30 Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park 130

31 The Argonaut 139

32 Sierra Nevada House 142

33 Hangings in Coloma 145

34 Goloma's Pioneer Cemetery 149

III Georgetown

35 The American River Inn 155

36 Pioneer Cemetery in Georgetown 158

37 Murder off Sliger Mine Road 161

38 Terry's Pizzeria and Grill 164

39 The Georgetown Hotel 166

Selected Bibliography 169

About the Author 175