The History of Angels Camp

Angels Camp, 1848

Was it Henry or George Angel after whom Angels Camp was named in 1848? Authorities disagree, but odds are with Henry, the town's first store keeper.

Boasting a population of 2,700 in 1972 (with the annexation of Altaville thus making Main Street 4 miles long) in 1849, nearly 4,000 miners camped in the one mile area from Angels Creek to Utica Park.

The cry of "gold" brought the miners but within a few years, local areas were worked out of surface gold and Placer Mining had all but ceased when, as tradition states, Bennegar Rasberry's muzzle loader jammed. He fired the rifle into the ground where the ramrod split a stone to reveal the glittering gold inside and Quartz Mining began in Angels Camp.

The main quartz vein extended from southern Altaville to Angels Creek and all along Main Street were the mines: The Sultana, the Angels, the Lightner, the Utica, and the Stickle.

Ore was pushed by hand cars over tracks from the mines to the mills where the "crash" of over 200 stamps was produced each day during the mining peak fo the 1880's and 90's. It has been said that when the last stamp mill ceased operating, the town was so quiet that people could not sleep.

The estimated gross recovery of gold from the 5 mines from 1886 to 1910 was $19,985,747...and Angels Creek ran chalky white from the mill wastes.

Angels began as a tent town with many flimsy wooden structures and in 1855, the first fire took its toll by destroying almost everything from Angels Camp to St. Patrick's Church

In rebuilding, many structures were built of rock with iron doors and roofs insulated with dirt and sand. Most of these building are standing today. (such as this building) The rest were again destroyed and rebuilt with only a handful of the original in evidence.

Mining continued until the last, the Gold Cliff shaft of the Utica Mining Company, closed in 1942. With the need for metal during World War II, most of the mining machinery was sold for scrap and now only a few concrete foundations and mill works remain of the Gold Rush Days in Angels Camp.

We suggest that you stop by the Calaveras Visitors Bureau and pick up a "Walking and Driving Tour Map" of Angels Camp.

As you visit Angels Camp, pause for a moment and imagine. Angels Camp is a quiet mountain town now, but at one time the city vibrated to the roar of the stamp mills and danced to the music of many saloons and dance halls. There is some humor in the fact that City Hall was the site of the Starcevich Saloon in the 1880's, and during Prohibition was a local source for bootleg. Old timers say the whiskey was hot stuff.

Some interesting places in Angels Camp include the Chicken Ladder on Hardscrabble Street. This wooden ladder was constructed by home owners residing on the narrow, "nearly vertical" street, to assist in walking up and down the hazardous slope. Many homes have front entrances on one street and back entrances on the next, as Angels Camp is built on hills and honeycombed with mine tunnels.

Utica Park was built in 1954 on the site of the Utica Mine after the ground had been leveled and shafts filled to the 60 foot level. Note the ground slippage after numerous cave-ins; the Highway on one level, the park on the next. The park originally held a huge frog pond but water seeped into the tunnels underneath causing both water and frogs to disappear.

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