Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Real Photo Postcard Images of Georgetown, California

Good morning, this is Tina. I am going to share some RPPC images I have collected of one of my favorite El Dorado County towns, Georgetown.

Georgetown is a great place where you can always find a parking place to go exploring. No parking meters, great places to eat, some super shops to dig in for collectors, a wonderful old cemetery to peruse, bars that you want to belly up to, and great fall foliage.
Rather small image showing the main street, Wentworth Springs Road, going North. The American River Inn is on the middle left. Georgetown's Main Street is very wide, and you can actually park in the middle of the street.
Here is a better shot of the wide street. Much of the business section on the left has either burned down or been torn down.
This business, a grocery, which is no longer there, had a filling station. Looks like the old woody is ready to fill up with gas. In the center is the Pioneer Cafe, and at the right is the Sanders Variety Store.
In this RPPC is the IOOF Hall (also known as the Balsar House or Whiteside Hall) on the left. The wide road here is now Highway 193. Where the picket fence is on the right is now a gas station.
This is one of the lumber mills located in the Georgetown area.
This lovely old school is no longer there, but Georgetown School is one of the oldest continuously run school districts in California.
A more "recent" image of the Georgetown business district. The little building on the left is now replaced by a fire station. Next to it on the right is the Miner's Club, a long running, very popular bar. At the far right is the American River Inn. I hear the beds there are very comfortable.
Georgetown gets snow several times during the winter, since it sits at just above 2,500 feet.
Georgetown's busy Main Street. Along this side (the West side) there is a small radio station, a garage (not open at this time), a market, a hotel/bar, and the IOOF hall, home to many a concert, craft show, jazzercise class, and various community get-togethers.
Many Georgetown businesses have come and gone, such as this veneer plant. I am still not sure where this was in town.
I will leave you with an image to remind us of what brought most folks to the Georgetown Divide, prospecting. Here a miner is crushing his rock to extract the gold.
Right now I am planning to head on out to my favorite market, Marval, in Georgetown, to do a little shopping for dinner, and earn some "turkey bucks" toward a Thanksgiving bird. I have $5 worth already, and will probably get about a dollar more today.
I hope you will consider visiting Georgetown. The climate is super, and autumn paints the trees around town beautiful colors. You can always find a place to park (except maybe during Founder's Day, Halloween trick-or-treating, or Jeeper's Jamboree). The residents give great garage sales, and if you are hungry, you can find a wonderful Eggs Benedict at the local breakfast joint.

8 comments:

Heidi Ann said...

Okay - you have made me want to go!!
I only wish our antique street fair there had been more successful, because it was a nice idea.
One of these days, I'd love to go back to Marval, and go into the shops in town.
I went last week with my friend Jamie to the market in Tuolumne, a really nice, smaller store owned by one of hubby's old friends. It reminds me of Marval - a pleasant shopping experience, with a nice deli, etc. Thank you for sharing all of your old photos of Georgetown!

Tina Dawn said...

I love to go to Tuolumne, and want to visit that market someday too. Now that I read your comment, I am planning on getting a sandwich at the deli. On weekends they BBQ tritips outside the store and boy does it smell good!

farmlady said...

Haven't been to Gerogetown in years. We need to do a day trip soon.
Loved all the old postcards and photos.
I do know that the guy doing the hand crushing of the gold ore is doing it the HARD way. That's just crazy. Hope he knew there was some gold in there.
Thanks for the cool post.

yosemite faith said...

don't think i have ever been there. as usual, your descriptions make me feel like i want to - right now!

walterworld said...

I've travelled Highway 49 a million times but never 193---Will have to check it out on a future Gold-Country roadtrip.

It would be fun to visit Georgetown and shoot some 'now' shots.

Thanks for sharing!

Tina Dawn said...

Hi Walterworld. I have more postcards and plan to do a kind of "then and now" with several of the old buildings, the Masonic Lodge, Catholic Church, etc. You will definitely enjoy a trip on 193, you can take it from Placerville to Auburn, then as far as Lincoln I think. It is a beautiful drive.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful post, great ))

Anonymous said...

WOW a blog on Georgetown glad I found it great read. My parents had 2 acres over by Goferbroke Road for over 20 years. It was dirt road and our private campground. We would explore all the surrounding areas walk along all abandoned flumes, how about the old apple orchard. The shack there had a huge brass pot and canning stuff....In town Ken Figgins the libary and the rock shop with very cool crystals...I cant tell ya how many hikes i went on and never found one as nice as in that store.....I used to know that area like the back of my hand. I Have not been up there in maybe 10 years . SO MANY MEMORIES need to start putting pen to paper or should I say keyboard to hard drive . Thanks for stirring up the brain.....LOVE IT